Woman Who Stabbed 3 Chesco College Students, Killing 1, Gets Sentence

WEST CHESTER, PA — The woman who stabbed a student to death during a brawl at Lincoln University in 2022 has been sentenced to prison.

Nydira Smith, 41, will spend the next three to six years behind bars, a judge ruled Monday, after being exonerated of first degree murder but found guilty of manslaughter.

Smith killed 21-year-old Jawine Evans, and was also convicted of two counts of aggravated assault for wounding two other 22-year-old students, Clifton Walker and Eric Dickerson.

The incident occurred back on Feb. 16, 2022. Smith later testified that she had gone to pick up her brother who wanted to help his roommate who was in a fight.

When they arrived at the brawl, Smith said she tried to break up the fight, and attorneys argued her actions were self-defense to protect her and her brother.

Deputy District Attorney Bridget Gallagher said Smith’s statements about the fight were fabrications to avoid a conviction. Investigators recovered a video that showed the stabbings, which showed Smith plunging the knife into Evans’ neck.

Even after avoiding conviction for murder and seeing lesser charges, Smith had faced a far steeper penalty, with assault carrying up to 20 years behind bars.

With reporting from Patch correspondent Holly Herman