Woman Arrested In Bronx Bus Slashing Says She Was Attacked First
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The woman accused of slashing two other women on an MTA bus in the Bronx says they attacked her first.
Police arrested 37-year-old Schkema Young who they say slashed a pair of passengers after getting into a fierce argument involving her dog.
It took 12 stitches to close up the wound where 20-year-old Demetria McClelland was allegedly cut on the arm by Young. Her girlfriend was also slashed across her face, leaving her with gruesome scars.
"My face is hurting, everything is just a blur to me right now and it's just too much," the unidentified woman said Monday night.
On top of the physical pain, the pair says they're also overcome with fear.
"The situation is traumatizing because its scary to go back on the bus because what if something like that happens to somebody else," McClelland said.
They were on board an MTA bus Monday afternoon along 149th Street near Morris Avenue when police say one of them went to pet Young's dog.
"When I went to go touch it she got mad," McClelland's girlfriend said." We ended up having a conflict, going back and forth arguing."
The victim admits the woman set her off, and things got out of control.
"As soon as we was getting off the bus she said something about my girlfriend's mom, so my girlfriend went back and after the altercation happened she pulled out a sharp object and started cutting my girlfriend and stabbing," McClelland said.
Tuesday night, Young shared her side of the fight, claiming the wounds she inflicted came in self defense after the women went back to confront her again.
"Sorry for what? I'm innocent," the assault suspect said while leaving the NYPD's 40th Precinct in Mott Haven.
McClelland says Young slashed her girlfriend four times, including two that just missed her eye. The couple could be seen in surveillance video running across the street to Lincoln Hospital. Meantime, Young can be seen flagging down a green taxi and fleeing the scene with her dog in her arms.
Young is charged with two counts of felony assault, one misdemeanor assault, and one count of criminal possession of a weapon.
