Photo Courtesy of GoFundMe
A Bronx trans woman is charged with murdering her neighbor after she allegedly stabbed him in the back because the two had a dispute over loud music.
Shaun Pyles, 25, and Tyquan Pleasant, a 27 father of two, lived at Elsmere Place building near Marmion Ave. and East Tremont on the second floor. Tyquan, according to his aunt, Kawanna Pleasant, wanted Pyles to keep the noise down because it was 1:30 in the morning and he was “trying to protect his family,” she told The New York Daily News.
It was during that heated exchange on March 24, just before 2 a.m., Pyles stabbed Tyquan in the back multiple times with a kitchen knife.
When police arrived at the Bronx apartment, Tyquan was unconscious and unresponsive. He was taken to Saint Barnabas Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
Police recovered a kitchen knife at the scene, noting it was very large. It was allegedly used in the deadly stabbing. Pyles was arrested and charged with murder, manslaughter, and weapon possession.
“It just went too far,” the victim’s aunt said. “For my nephew to argue with this person, and then he turns his back and is stabbed in the back like a coward.”
Tyquan is survived by his two children, a 5-week-old baby, and a 4-year-old girl he was planning on taking to school the following day of the attack. The victim also left behind a fiancée named Jayvonna Rucker, who witnessed the attack while her children slept.
“My daughter was inside the living room sleeping,” said Rucker, 25. “The baby had just gone to sleep. We were about to go to bed, and all of a sudden, we just heard a loud vibration sound coming through the wall.”
According to Rucker, she and Tyquan tried to resolve the situation by calling 311, a non-emergency hotline in New York City most commonly used for complaints, and building management, but nothing was done about the loud music.
The grieving fiancée said that she hopes Pyles is held accountable because she finds being a single mother a hard adjustment.
“It hurts so bad. My son is only 1 month old, and he didn’t get to have the memories he’s supposed to have with his dad,” she said. “My daughter’s finally understanding that he’s not going to be with us anymore. That’s kind of hard on me.”
As New York City cracks down on rising crime, the trans woman faces serious criminal charges that could result in significant legal consequences, including lengthy prison sentences.
The murder charge is the most serious one, being defined as the intention of killing someone or acting with extreme recklessness that leads to someone’s death.
Manslaughter, a person causing the death of another person recklessly or while committing a crime, is a less severe charge but still carries significant legal consequences.
Weapon possession charges in NYC typically involve the illegal possession of a firearm or other dangerous weapon.
A funeral service for Pleasant will be held on April 3 at George H. Weldon Funeral Home in New York. A family member set up a GoFundMe to help Rucker with the financial burden she has had since his death.