Dispute over dog in hallway led to Bronx mom being stabbed to death by upstairs neighbor: prosecutors

A Bronx mom was stabbed to death in her apartment building’s elevator by her upstairs neighbor over a long-running dispute about the victim’s dog being left in the hallway, prosecutors said Monday.

Shashamanie Thompson, 30, was knifed in the stomach and left eye inside the elevator in her building on Ogden Ave. near W. 167th St. in Highbridge about 10 p.m. Saturday, cops said.

“It’s just a big loss,” the victim’s father, Mark Thompsan, 55, told the Daily News Monday. “It’s a big void because no other people is like that. You know, she’s unique.”

The victim’s upstairs neighbor, Beyonce Johnson, 24, and her boyfriend, Saleh Ceesay, 21, who lives about 2 miles away according to cops, were taken into custody at the scene, and a day later both charged with murder and manslaughter.

“She keeps a dog in the hallway,” Ceesay told cops after his arrest, according to court documents. His girlfriend and other residents had “snitched” on her to management about the situation, he added.

The victim ran into Johnson and Ceesay in the lobby of their building and their long-running feud flared up again, according to authorities. Johnson was celebrating her 24th birthday the day of the slaying.

After they all got into the elevator together, Johnson allegedly whipped a knife out of her purse and stabbed Thompson. Ceesay is accused of grabbing Thompson in a headlock and punching her as the slaying unfolded.

“She’s a lovely person,” the victim’s dad said. “She have a good heart. A strong person. She’s a fighter. She don’t give up. I mean, for that to happen to her, it would have to take two people to do that to her.”

Ceesay was ordered held without bail during his arraignment in Bronx Criminal Court Monday.

“I have nothing to do with this,” he initially told cops, according to court papers. But in a statement hours later, he claimed the victim stabbed him in the face with an apple juice bottle.

“I was upset I saw blood on me,” he told police. “I’m bipolar. I have depression. It’s been two years since I took meds. I’m not a murder[er]. Who is going to take care of her kid? That little boy’s face is going to play in my [head]. Is she really gone? Send me to jail … I did something bad.”

Shashamanie’s 9-year-old son was spending the holidays with his grandparents, who now plan to break the news to him on Tuesday.

“I picked him up the day before Christmas,” the victim’s father said. “New Year’s, we were going to spend over there with him and his mother. That was the intention.”

Shashamanie’s son last spoke with her the day before she was murdered.

“He called to tell her he love her,” Mark Thompson said. “She asked, ‘For why you call?’ He say, ‘Just call to say, I love you.’ That’s what he said. She went, ‘Oh, that’s so sweet.’ Because she thinking maybe he called for something else.”

In a third statement to police as he was being questioned early Sunday, Ceesay described the fight between his girlfriend and the victim, according to court docs.

“She hit my girlfriend,” he claimed. “I tried to separate the fight … I didn’t know my girlfriend had a knife.”

His lawyer, Edward Sapone, told the judge that prosecutors have a stronger case against his girlfriend, who was still awaiting arraignment, than against Ceesay.

“Not to throw her under the bus,” Sapone told Judge David Goodwin. “Really, what we have is two women fighting and Mr. Ceesay coming to the aid of his girlfriend, where he did not, at no time, possess a weapon.”

Ceesay lives with his mother and works as a security guard, his lawyer said.

Prosecutors say his girlfriend told the victim, “Move, I will f—ing kill you,” and that Ceesay pushed the victim out of the elevator and retreated with his girlfriend to the girlfriend’s apartment after the attack.

Shashamanie with her dying breaths named the suspect’s apartment number, according to prosecutors, telling cops, “The girl in 6D did this.”

A neighbor who declined to give his name recounted seeing Shashamanie mortally wounded.

“I was coming in from outside,” said the neighbor. “I was coming in from the store. I came in, I walked through the lobby door, look up. She’s coming down the stairs.”

He saw her slump against the wall and collapse as she clutched her stomach. He called 911.

“I saw her bleeding out,” he said.

Shashamanie was taken to Lincoln Hospital, where she died a little over two hours later.

“It was like four in the morning and I get a call [from cops],” her father said. “They said she passed away. … My whole body feel cold immediately. My stomach started hurting me. My wife was in the room. I came in her bed, I told her, she started crying. I had to console her.”

“I haven’t really cried out loud yet,” he added. “Because my wife, she constantly crying, as you talk to her and mention certain things, she just breaks down. So I’m trying to be strong, give her mother comfort.”

The victim was an undocumented immigrant from Jamaica who worked odd jobs cooking and cleaning off the books, her father said.

“She liked to dance,” he said. “She’s very funny. And she loved music. She could cook very well. She’s not a stagnant person. She’s very active. She does art, she cooks, she dance, she’s funny. You know, she’s nice, she’s kind, she’s very truthful. She’s something.”

“I miss talking to her,” he added. “She’s that special spice, the special ingredient in the pot.”

Johnson has two prior arrests, including for criminal contempt, harassment and violating an order of protection in November 2021. The victim in that case was 19-year-old woman. And in April 2018, Johnson was arrested for criminal mischief. Her arraignment is still pending in Bronx Criminal Court.

Cessay has no prior arrests.

The victim had three arrests on her record, including a June assault bust near her home where she was accused of punching a 36-year-old woman in the face. In April 2024, she was arrested for weapon possession, trespass, disorderly conduct, harassment and resisting arrest in the Bronx. In June 2023 she was arrested in South Jamaica, Queens, for allegedly assaulting a 42-year-old woman.

Shashamanie’s father is comforted by the condolence calls he’s received.

“The calls keep coming,” he said.

“I didn’t know she was so loved. People from all over telling you that she’s great. You know, it made me feel good. I just was at a funeral home, and they have two room sizes where you could keep the reception. My cousin was there, he said, ‘You gotta take the big room because the small one is not going to work. You need to take the big size, which holds like 400 people.’”