An 18-year-old girl with a criminal record has been arrested for the brutal face slashing of Shantayah Lewis in Crown Heights last Friday. Carina Bernard allegedly attacked Lewis on Franklin Avenue, cutting the 17-year-old's face with a knife and stabbing her cousin, 15-year-old Shakeena Grant. A relative of both victims told the Daily News, "I'm happy they arrested her, so that she can pay for what she did."
The alleged attacker's motives haven't been confirmed, but Lewis said there was dispute concerning Bernard's boyfriend, who previously dated Grant's sister. He was on the scene too, and originally cops thought he was party to the assault. Now they suspect he was trying to break up the fight, a conclusion supported by surveillance footage. "Basically, [Shakeena] fought for her sister," Lewis had explained from the hospital. "She should not have done that. We should not have been involved."
Lewis is now recovering at her grandmother's house. Bernard, a Bed-Stuy resident who was arrested twice in 2008 for grand larceny and possession of a weapon, faces charges of assault, harassment and menacing.
