STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — While family and friends are celebrating the holidays, Jasmin Thompson will be on Rikers Island mulling what could be the most important decision of her life.
Thompson, 26, of the 400 block of Richmond Terrace in New Brighton, could accept a plea deal in the Jan. 7 stabbing death of a 43-year-old West Brighton woman, or proceed toward trial and risk decades in prison if convicted.
The top count of second-degree murder carries a minimum sentence of 15 years to life in prison. The defendant also is accused of slashing an unidentified woman on the arm. She pleaded not guilty to the charges and is claiming self-defense in the case.
During a scheduled appearance Wednesday in state Supreme Court, St. George, the sides referenced an offer in which Thompson would serve just over a decade in prison.
“The People are making an offer you might not like completely, but you also have to consider the consequences if you go to trial and lose,” said Justice Alexander B. Jeong. “Those are decisions you have to make yourself.”
In this Jan. 8, 2025 photo, a candlelight vigil is held for the alleged victim, Jennira Roundtree, 43, of West Brighton.(Advance/SILive.com)
Thompson at one point turned and saw her mother in the courtroom, but then turned back around without saying anything or motioning.
“Love you,” her mother offered, fighting off tears. Thompson did not respond, instead staring up at the ceiling.
Prosecutors on Wednesday said that a “voluminous” amount of evidence in the case, which includes video surveillance footage, has been turned over to the defense for review.
“You can reach out to your attorney if you want to look at the video again here in the (courthouse) pens, alright?” offered Jeong.
“Yeh,” replied the defendant.
“Any questions?” asked Jeong.
“No,” she replied quietly.
“Would you like to say anything to the court?” asked Jeong.
“No,” shrugged Thompson.
As officers were escorting the defendant out of the courtroom, she glanced back at her mother but did not say anything. Her mother declined to comment outside the courtroom.
Ongoing feud erupts
Police said Thompson stabbed the victim, Jennira Roundtree, 43, outside the West Brighton Houses, where Roundtree lived, during a fight involving about 20 people.
The violence, which unfolded on the 800 block of Henderson Avenue, started as an ongoing feud between groups of young people, sources said.
Roundtree, according to a source, was killed while trying to rescue her daughter from the fight. Thompson turned herself into police days later.
In launching a defense, defense attorney Mario Gallucci has said his client was being attacked with a golf club.
‘I’m not a killer,’ says defendant on podcast
Prior to turning herself in, Thompson spoke about the incident on a local podcast.
“I’m not a killer; I would never want to kill nobody,” Thompson said. “I have kids too. That lady was a mom. She got four kids. Nothing was planned. Nothing was premeditated. Nothing that they’re talking about . . . Whoever did it, it wasn’t premeditated.”
She went on to mention dozens of names she alleged to be involved in the incident, maintaining that she was defending herself. And at one point she shared a chaotic iPhone video purported to be filmed during the scuffle and later shared to social media.
In this January 2025 photo, a pathway at the West Brighton Houses is cordoned off with police tape during an investigation into the fatal stabbing of Jennira Roundtree, 43, outside her home at 820 Henderson Ave. Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel
That video, obtained by the Advance/SILive.com, showed several people throwing punches and screaming in a scaffold-covered courtyard of the West Brighton Houses. Police officers attempting to intervene ordered anyone involved to “go home.”
Seconds before the video cut out, a woman was seen laying on her back on the pavement.
Thompson turned herself in to authorities days later at the 120th Precinct stationhouse in St. George.
At her arraignment hearing in January, about a half dozen of her relatives and friends watched quietly from the gallery as the court ordered she be remanded without bail. Gallucci, who was retained in the case, argued his client was defending herself in the ordeal.
‘She’d do anything to protect her kids’
Jennira Roundtree, 43, of West Brighton, is shown in this photo posted to Facebook.Facebook
Roundtree was described by family and friends as a devoted mother and grandmother. At a candlelight vigil outside the West Brighton Houses following her death, several people referred to the deceased in written tributes as “mama honcho.”
“She’d do anything to protect her kids,” said Diamond Brantley, a friend and neighbor. “She’d always come out and tell them to come back inside and avoid any drama. She never had any problems, and I really hope they catch who did this.”