FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, March 4, 2025
Brooklyn Man Sentenced to 25 Years to Life in Prison for
Stabbing Death of Ex-Girlfriend in Broad Daylight
Defendant Lay in Wait for Victim Near Her Residence,
Victim was Stabbed More Than a Dozen Times
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a Brooklyn man has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend with a knuckle knife in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The defendant was convicted of murder following a jury trial.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This was a brutal and premeditated attack in broad daylight that took an innocent woman’s life in a shocking act of cruelty. With today’s sentence, the defendant is being held accountable, and our hearts remain with the victim’s family as they grieve this unimaginable loss.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as James Brown, 65, of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. He was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Warin to 25 years to life in prison. The defendant was convicted of second-degree murder and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon on January 23, 2025, following a jury trial.
The District Attorney said that, according to the evidence, on May 15, 2022, at approximately 11 a.m., the defendant waited on the corner of Marcus Garvey Boulevard and Van Buren Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant, facing the apartment building of Cynthia McLeod, 55, his former girlfriend. When the victim walked to the intersection where the defendant was standing he pulled a knuckle knife from his backpack and stabbed her twice: once in the neck and once in the face, according to the evidence.
Furthermore, according to the evidence, the victim quickly walked into a corner bodega and asked a friend to call 911. The defendant followed the victim into the bodega and behind the counter, grabbed the victim, threw her to the ground and stabbed her more than 10 times about the face, neck and torso, killing her. Meanwhile, police responded to the 911 call and apprehended the defendant, who claimed the victim owed him money.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Farin Chasin-Fodeman and Senior Assistant District Attorney Hannah Laufer, of the District Attorney’s Domestic Violence Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Kori Medow, Bureau Chief.
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