By Ivan Pereira
A LeFrak City college student who was close to earning his Bachelor's degree died Friday after being wounded in a bloody stabbing outside his dorm at the State University of New York Delhi College of Technology.
Tyshawn Bierria, 22, was taken off life support after doctors declared him brain dead, according to a school spokesman. Bierria was trying to break up a fight near his dorm April 27 and was stabbed several times throughout his body, including his aorta, campus police said.
“This really was an unfathomable event,” said Joel Smith a spokesman for the school that is located near the Catskills in upstate New York.
“This really is a safe campus. We've never had an assault of this type on our campus.”
Olanrewaju Ogunwuyi, 21; William R. Dorsey Jr., 22; Raymond L. Brightman, 21; and Delhi student Jack Daniel Boampong, 19, were arrested by campus police in connection with the stabbing, Smith said.
But Delaware County District Attorney Richard Northrup told the The Daily Star of Oneonta, N.Y., a local paper, Tuesday that a grand jury did not indict the four because witnesses had trouble distinguishing Bierria's attackers. The DA said there may be more grand jury hearings and arrests without elaborating.
A fifth suspect was arrested in New Jersey and awaiting extradition to Delaware County for arraignment, Smith said.
Bierria's mother, Sharon, a minister at Corona's Eternal Love Baptist Church, traveled upstate to pray for her son. Two days following the stabbing, she preached at a school prayer service for her son, her words moving the campus's students.
“This was a woman of tremendous courage and faith. The campus and our students have drawn tremendous strength from her,” Smith said.
Bierria graduated from Newtown High School in 2003 and excelled on the varsity basketball team. He was selected to be on the TimesLedger PSAL's All-Queens 1st Team in 2003 and continued to play basketball at Delhi.
Bierria, an individual studies major who was scheduled to graduate later this month, had many friends and was popular among his peers, according to Smith.
“His passions here were basketball and working out in the fitness center,” the spokesman said.
A viewing service was set for Thursday at First Baptist Church of East Elmhurst, 100-10 Astoria Blvd., from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and followed by a wake from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. His funeral was set for Friday at 7 p.m. at the church.
Smith said the school was arranging buses to take students from Delhi to Queens for the services.
Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.
