Bronx man gets 9 years for stabbing victim, piercing their brain

A petty dispute over a doorway ended in near-fatal violence and landed a Bronx man behind bars for nearly a decade.
April 4, 2025
An MTA bus stands idle with lights flashing in the street in Manhattan.
An MTA bus stands idle with lights flashing in the street in Manhattan.

BRONX, N.Y. — A Bronx man who stabbed another man in the head during a violent attack on an MTA bus has been sentenced to nine years in prison, Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced Thursday.


Key Points

  • Dayshawn Bannister, 29, sentenced to nine years in prison for stabbing a man in the head
  • The attack stemmed from an argument over a door at an apartment building
  • Co-defendant Destiny Bryant received a conditional discharge with community service

Dayshawn Bannister, 29, pleaded guilty in February to attempted murder in the second degree, first-degree assault, and second-degree gang assault. Bronx Supreme Court Justice Cynthia Isales sentenced him to nine years in prison and five years of post-release supervision. The sentences on each count will run concurrently.

“The defendant got onto a bus and attacked a man by stabbing him in the head,” said District Attorney Clark. “A trivial argument about holding open a door had far-reaching and devastating effects.”

The incident occurred on February 15, 2024, following a confrontation at 869 East 147th Street. According to investigators, Destiny Bryant, Bannister’s co-defendant, became involved in a dispute with 38-year-old Cheddie Defrietis over a door not being held open. She later followed him to a bus stop and contacted her boyfriend, who then summoned Bannister.

Bannister boarded the MTA bus and ordered passengers to exit. He then asked 35-year-old Peter Crosby if he knew Defrietis before stabbing him in the head, puncturing his brain.

Bryant pleaded guilty to third-degree assault on March 20 and was sentenced to a conditional discharge, including a period of community service.