Background: Law enforcement officers investigate after a stabbing takes place at the 8th–Market train station in Philadelphia, Pa. (KYW/YouTube). Inset: Rosalind Pichardo-Kent (WCAU).
A prominent community activist in Pennsylvania sliced a woman with a box cutter on a train after an argument broke out between them about manners, authorities say.
Rosalind Pichardo-Kent, 48, faces several charges, including aggravated assault, possession of an instrument of crime with intent, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, harassment, and disorderly conduct. According to court records reviewed by Law&Crime, after being jailed, she posted 10% of $25,000 bail in order to be released on Wednesday.
On the night of July 17, a woman said she was waiting to board a SEPTA train at the 15th Street Station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. While she waited, she wanted to sit down on a bench, but a man was standing in front of it.
The woman asked the man to move over so she could sit, at which time Pichardo-Kent — who was sitting on the other side of the bench — "got smart with her," local NBC affiliate WCAU reported, citing a criminal complaint. The defendant apparently remarked that young people were rude and entitled.
"I tried to make fun of it, like, 'Are you OK?'" the woman reportedly told investigators. She then asked, "What's the issue? Did I ask you to move?" and asked the man if her question bothered him, to which he replied, "no."
Pichardo-Kent allegedly kept getting closer to the other woman, and they continued arguing as they boarded the train. As they got in each other's faces, the defendant allegedly said "I got something for people like you" before bumping the other woman, per the complaint.
The women began to fight, and the victim said she felt warm and saw blood on herself as Pichardo-Kent held a box cutter in her hand. The victim then exited the train at the 8th–Market stop, and witnesses apparently told her to cover her face.
At about 9:10 p.m. that night, officers with SEPTA's Transit Police Department got a report of a stabbing. They arrived at the 8th–Market Station to find a woman with stab wounds to her face and chest.
She was taken to the hospital in critical condition.
The woman apparently needed 40 stitches to the left side of her face, 30 stitches to the right side of her face, three stitches to her upper lip and three stitches to the upper right side of her chest. The muscles on the left side of her face had to be surgically reattached to restore movement on her right side.
An investigator found Pichardo-Kent inside a train car, and she was arrested, WCAU reported. A box cutter was also found in the train.
The defendant was arraigned on Wednesday. She is expected to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Aug. 6.
Pichardo-Kent is labeled on the site for the Philadelphia Center Against Sexual Violence as being "an activist, educator, survivor whose life has been touched by gun violence." She apparently "survived an attempted homicide," and after seeing violence take the lives of her loved ones, "she has made it her mission to create change" and "works with homicide victims to advocate for justice."