Brooklyn man gets 18 years for nearly stabbing friend to death

November 15, 2017 By Paul Frangipane Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Shakie Brownfield was sentenced to 18 years in prison Wednesday at Brooklyn Supreme Court for a felony assault. Eagle file photo by Rob Abruzzese

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A 23-year-old Brooklyn father of three was sentenced to 18 years in prison Wednesday on a felony assault charge for nearly stabbing his friend to death at an East New York house party.

Despite being convicted of the July 23, 2016 crime in a one-week Brooklyn Supreme Court jury trial, Shakie Brownfield denied his guilt in court.

“I basically wanna say that, I do apologize for what happened to my friend,” Brownfield said in with a shaky voice. “I did not commit this crime. I did not stab my friend.”

The victim’s mother addressed the court to say she forgave Brownfield, but she needed closure.

“I almost lost a child over a petty disagreement,” she said. “I could have buried my daughter and been talking about her in the past tense.”

She explained that July 23 is now not only the day she celebrates her wedding anniversary, but the day she remembers how she almost lost her first-born child.

Brownfield and Jamiya Sutton were at a party at 900 Glenmore Ave. when an argument led Brownfield to stab Sutton in her chest. The handle allegedly broke in the struggle and Sutton was left with the knife sticking out of her, according to court documents.

Sutton suffered a punctured lung, severed artery and received numerous stitches, but survived.

She did not attend the sentencing.

Defense attorney Ryan Cleary urged Supreme Court Justice Miriam Cyrulnik to be lenient with her sentence, citing Brownfield’s troubled upbringing of constant abuse in foster homes.

But ultimately, after Brownfield’s statement left the courtroom silent for nearly a minute, Cyrulnik swiftly dealt the 18-year sentence with five years of post-release supervision.