Woman charged with fatally stabbing a Lincoln University student said she never intended to kill anyone

Nydira Smith told jurors Tuesday in West Chester that she was fearing for her life, and her brother’s, when she swung a steak knife wildly during a melee last year at Lincoln University, fatally stabbing one student and wounding two others.

Smith, 40, is on trial on charges of first- and third-degree murder as well as aggravated assault in the February 2022 attack at the historically Black university. During the brawl, Smith was punched in the face by Clifton Walker, one of the surviving victims, while trying to keep two groups of warring students separated, she testified.

“I felt hurt and there was a need to defend my brother and myself,” said Smith, of East Mount Airy. “Anytime a man balls up his fist and punches you in the face, he intends to cause harm.”

Jawine Evans, 21, a senior at the school, was part of the group brawling in the hallway of a dorm building on the campus. Smith stabbed an artery in Evans’ neck during the fight, and he died not long after. She testified that she did so accidentally, but had intentionally wounded the two other victims.

When she found out later that Evans was killed in the fight, she said she was in shock.

“It was a somber moment,” she said. “I didn’t know that had taken place. I never wanted it to result in that.”

Earlier in the week-long trial before Chester County Court Judge Nicole Forzato, Smith’s lawyers asserted that she had acted in self-defense the night of Feb. 16, 2022, on Lincoln University’s campus. Nine character witnesses, including some of Smith’s family and former co-workers, testified that she was peaceful, honest and nonviolent.

But prosecutors, led by Deputy District Attorney Bridget Gallagher, cast doubt on Smith’s version of events. During cross-examination Tuesday, Gallagher presented evidence that Smith and her family discussed crafting a self-defense case hours after the stabbing. Smith, meanwhile, told the jury she never discussed her role in the killing with her family.

Smith also deleted messages, videos and contact information related to the stabbing from her cellphone afterward. She purchased a second phone that, prosecutors said, she used to discuss the case with friends and relatives.

Smith declined to go to the police, she said, until she had hired a lawyer, and rented a hotel room in Plymouth Meeting. She said she did so because she had seen police officers outside her apartment in the city and said she wanted to “sleep comfortably.”

» READ MORE: One student killed, two injured in stabbing at Lincoln University

Smith said she traveled to Lincoln University on the night of Evans’ death after receiving a call from her younger brother, Malik Stevens, a senior there studying criminal justice. She told jurors that Stevens, 24, said his roommate had been attacked earlier that day, and that the attackers were trying to break into their room.

In his own testimony Monday, Stevens said he knew the attackers, including fellow Lincoln students Walker and Eric Dickerson, well. They lived near each other on campus, and often played basketball together. The day of the brawl, another student, Taj McIntosh, had accused Stevens’ roommate of stealing his wallet, and, later, some of his marijuana.

The alleged theft led the group to ambush Stevens’ roommate outside his room, and, later, engage in another fight that included Stevens, one he told jurors was more evenly matched. At that point, Stevens said, he overheard McIntosh say he was going to come back with a “four pounder,” slang for a gun.

Stevens took the threat seriously, he said, because he had seen pictures on social media of McIntsoh holding a handgun in his room on campus. So, he said, he called Smith to come pick him up and take him home to safety.

Smith testified that she brought the knife with her when she picked up her brother because it was something she often carried to protect herself. She had done so, she said, ever since she was robbed and assaulted by a group of armed men in Philadelphia in 1998.

But she said she had no intention of using it at Lincoln University.

On her way to the campus, she called the school’s security office to explain what had happened to her brother. She did not call police, she said, despite knowing about the threat of the gun.

Stevens testified that he had little faith in campus security in protecting him, saying they often ignored fights between students.

» READ MORE: Woman arrested in killing of Lincoln University student was allowed on campus because she was ‘family,’ official said

“Campus security has always failed us and done nothing to protect students,” Stevens said.

After arriving, and as Stevens was loading his sister’s car with his belongings, an argument broke out in the hallway. Smith stepped between her brother and a group that included Evans, McIntosh, Dickerson and Walker.

“I told them ‘Y’all are in college,’” Smith said. “’You’re here to get an education. This is not necessary.’”

In response, she said, Walker cursed at her and punched her, leading to the brawl. As Smith was attacked, the knife fell out of her pocket, she said. She grabbed it quickly, accidentally by its blade, and closed her hand around it so no one else could use it against her or her brother.

She cut herself badly while doing so, she said. But then she flipped the knife around and used it during the fight, intentionally stabbing Walker in the back and Dickerson in the arm. She stopped, she said, when she heard Walker cry out in pain.

Smith, Stevens and two of Stevens’ friends then fled the college, stopping long enough for Stevens’ roommate to get his car parked nearby.

As Smith waited for the men before leaving campus, she tended to the wound on her hand. Her sister, who accompanied her on the ride to Lincoln, threw the knife out of the car’s window before they drove back to Philadelphia, she said.

Closing arguments are scheduled for Wednesday morning, and the jury is expected to begin deliberating later that afternoon.