A 20-year-old Bronx woman who was trying to deliver birthday presents was killed Thursday after she was chased by a knife-wielding attacker and fell 14 stories while trying to jump from one high-rise balcony to another. Kenya Edmonds, 23, has been arrested and charged with second degree murder and first degree manslaughter in the death of Sienna Edwards. According to Ray Kelly, Edwards tried calling 911 for help at one point: “In the background there are voices that say, ‘You’re not going to leave here alive, you’re not going to leave here alive,’” Kelly said.
Edwards' boyfriend Timothy Smith believes this was a case of mistaken identity: he had asked Edwards to go to the apartment to deliver birthday presents to his cousin Carl Purcell's 3-year-old daughter. Purcell is barred by order of protection from entering Edmonds' home—Smith believes those inside mistook Edwards for Purcell’s new girlfriend.
Police say Edwards arrived at the 14th floor apartment at E 179 Street around 9:30 p.m. Thursday night, where Edmonds and two other women (including her sister) were present. Edwards called 911 soon after, and police said the dispatcher heard at least six threats against her on that call. Police believe Edwards was trying to jump to another building's balcony to escape her attackers when she fell. “She fell in the spot where I park my car,” Corey Childs, a resident of the building, told the Times.
“When she called me, she said they had a knife to her neck,” Smith told the Daily News. “I called her back 50 times, but I never heard back from her.”
