A Bronx mom stabbed to death in her apartment building was slain in the elevator by her upstairs neighbor, on the suspect’s birthday, after a long feud between the two women, police sources said Monday.
Shashamanie Thompson, 30, was stabbed 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.
Thompson’s 9-year-old son was spending the holidays with his grandparents, who now plan to break the news to him on Tuesday his mother is dead.
“I picked him up the day before Christmas,” said Thompson’s dad, Mark Thompson, 55. “New Years, we were going to spend over there with him and his mother. That was the intention.”
Shashamanie’s son last spoke to her the day before she was murdered.
“He called to tell her he love her,” his grandfather 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, talk about something else.”
“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’s upstairs neighbor, Beyonce Johnson, 24, and Saleh Ceesay, 21, who lives about two miles away according to cops, were taken into custody at the scene and a day later both charged with murder and manslaughter.
According to a police source, the victim ran into Johnson and Ceesay in the lobby of their building and their long-running feud flared up again. Johnson was celebrating her 24th birthday the day of the slaying. Ceesay is her boyfriend, neighbors said.
After they all got into the elevator together, Johnson allegedly whipped a knife out of her purse and stabbed Thompson in the stomach and left eye, the source said. Casey is accused of grabbing Thompson in a headlock and punching her as the slaying unfolded, according to the source.
“She’s a lovely person,” Shashamanie’s father 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.”
A neigbhor 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.
Thompson 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.”
“It’s just a big loss, man,” he added. “It’s a big void, because no other people is like that. You know, she’s unique.”
The victim was an undocumented immigrant from Jamaica who worked odd jobs cooking and cleaning off the book, 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.”
The two suspects were awaiting arraignment in Bronx Criminal Court Monday afternoon.
Johnson has two prior arrests, includng 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 mishief.
Cessey has no prior arrests, according to cops.
The victim had three arrests on her record, inlucing 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 resisitng 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 the’s received.
“The calls keep coming,” he said.
“I didn’t know she was so loved. People from all over telling you that shes 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.’”
