{"id":140388,"date":"2026-02-20T20:32:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T20:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/140388\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T20:32:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T20:32:08","slug":"staten-island-woman-26-abandons-trial-admits-guilt-in-frenzied-brawl-that-left-mother-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/140388\/","title":{"rendered":"Staten Island woman, 26, abandons trial, admits guilt in frenzied brawl that left mother dead"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Taking the advice of a Staten Island judge<\/a>, Jasmin Thompson spent the last few weeks contemplating the idea of going to trial on murder charges, which could have resulted in a decades-long prison sentence. <\/p>\n

During a scheduled court appearance Wednesday, Thompson told Justice Alexander B. Jeong that she instead wanted to enter a guilty plea to first-degree manslaughter as a means to resolve the case. <\/p>\n

Thompson, 26, was charged in the 2025 stabbing death of Jennira Roundtree, 43, of West Brighton. <\/a>The top count carried a minimum sentence of 15 years to life in prison. <\/p>\n

In exchange for her plea, Jeong is scheduled to sentence Thompson to 12 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision. Jeong adjourned the proceedings to March 18 in state Supreme Court, St. George. <\/p>\n

Feud between young people: Sources<\/p>\n

Law enforcement sources said Roundtree was killed while trying to rescue her daughter from a brawl<\/a> outside the West Brighton Houses apartments on the 800 block of Henderson Avenue. <\/p>\n

The victim and her daughter resided at the apartment complex. Thompson hails from the 400 block of Richmond Terrace in New Brighton, court documents indicated. <\/p>\n

Police said the encounter began as a dispute between two groups of young people.<\/p>\n

Portions of the chaos were captured in cell phone video and involved about 20 people, prosecutors said. Thompson turned herself into police days later.<\/p>\n

\u2018Senseless violence\u2019: D.A. McMahon<\/p>\n

District Attorney Michael E. McMahon issued a statement Friday describing Roundtree\u2019s death as a \u201csenseless act of violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJoining nearly two dozen individuals in a chaotic melee outside of the West Brighton Houses last year, Jasmin Thompson fatally stabbed Jennira Roundtree, a 43-year-old mother of four and devoted grandmother, as (the victim) attempted to break up the frenzied brawl,\u201d said McMahon. \u201cToday, my office held Thompson accountable in the courtroom.\u201d<\/p>\n

McMahon went on to commend the work of NYPD investigators and prosecutors who handled the case. <\/p>\n

\u201cA harrowing case to prosecute, we thank and commend Trials Bureau Chief Antonia Assenso and Assistant District Attorney Ahkianne Wanliss for their unwavering dedication throughout the course of this case, and for securing justice in the wake of this heartbreaking incident.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Justification issues\u2019: Defense<\/p>\n

Thompson\u2019s attorney, Mario Gallucci, has maintained his client was defending herself in the midst of a chaotic scene on Jan. 7, 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout this case, we consistently emphasized the significant justification issues supported by the evidence,\u201d said Gallucci in a statement Friday. <\/p>\n

\"MarioDefense attorney Mario Gallucci has maintained in state Supreme Court, St. George, that Thompson was acting in self defense when she fatally stabbed 43-year-old Jennira Roundtree on Jan. 7, 2025 outside the West Brighton Houses. Jason Paderon<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter extensive discussions and a full presentation of those facts, the People agreed to a resolution that reflects those realities while still ensuring accountability. Ms. Thompson is young, and this sentence allows her the opportunity to return home one day and live a productive life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m not a killer\u2019<\/p>\n

Prior to turning herself in, Thompson, who is a mother herself, spoke about the slaying on a local podcast<\/a>, saying she would never intentionally kill anyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not a killer,\u201d Thompson said. \u201cI have kids too. That lady was a mom. She got four kids. Nothing was planned. Nothing was premeditated. Nothing that they\u2019re talking about… whoever did it, it wasn\u2019t premeditated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thompson went on to mention dozens of names of people she claimed were involved in the ordeal. At one point she shared a video of the incident shot on someone\u2019s iPhone. <\/p>\n

The video, obtained by the Advance\/SILive.com, showed several people throwing punches and screaming in the courtyard outside the West Brighton Houses, which at the time was encased in scaffolding. <\/p>\n

Police officers attempting to intervene ordered anyone involved to \u201cgo home,\u201d the video showed. Then seconds before the video cut out, a woman was seen lying on her back on the pavement.<\/p>\n

At Thompson\u2019s arraignment hearing in January 2025<\/a>, family and friends of the defendant watched quietly from the gallery as she was ordered remanded without bail. <\/p>\n

Roundtree was \u2018devoted mother\u2019\"JenniraJennira Roundtree, 43, of West Brighton, was fatally stabbed on Jan. 7, 2025 outside her home at the West Brighton Houses on Henderson Avenue. (Facebook)<\/p>\n

In the wake of the incident, Roundtree was described by family and friends as a \u201cdevoted\u201d mother of four and a grandmother. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019d do anything to protect her kids,\u201d said a friend and neighbor of the victim. \u201cShe\u2019d 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

At a candlelight vigil <\/a>held hours after Roundtree\u2019s death, family and friends scrawled heartfelt goodbyes on a sheet of cardboard that was adorned with photos of Roundtree. Some of the comments referred to the victim as \u201cmama honcho.\u201d <\/p>\n

Wrote one woman: \u201cWe all loved you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Taking the advice of a Staten Island judge, Jasmin Thompson spent the last few…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":140389,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":["post-140388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140388\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}