Subway Stabber, 20, Who Killed A Mother, 30, During A Vicious Brawl Claims It Was Self Defense

It was a brutal brawl – caught on tape – that resulted in the death of a young woman.

20-year-old Mia Simmons appeared downcast in court on Wednesday. She is facing charges of manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon.

She allegedly stabbed mother-of-one, Latanya Watson, to death on a New York City subway platform.

30-year-old Watson died from wounds to the face, neck and arm. 

Surveillance footage captured the horrific moment Simmons appears to repeatedly plunge a knife into Watson.

Prosecutors say the random attack happened at around 9.15pm Monday in Brownsville, Brooklyn. 

Simmons attorney disputes that the attack was “random.” Guy Oksenhendler claims his client was defending herself and wrestled the knife away from victim.

Oksenhendler told The New York Daily News: “My client is simply trying to defend herself.”

“At some point in the video you can see how my client puts her hand up to defend herself, which is apparently where she got that several-inch-long gash on her hand.”

“As she’s attacking my client, you can see my client continually moving away and moving away. The decedent does not stop pursuing and hitting my client. She’s pulling her hair, she’s punching her in the face.”

But prosecutors insist Simmons and Watson were strangers to each other.

The two females reportedly got into an altercation while riding a 3 Line.

The fatal fight then spilled onto the mezzanine at the Sutter Avenue-Rutland Road station.

Video shows the two women pushing through the turnstiles before they grab each other by the hair and scuffle.  

Simmons, wearing a white t-shirt and tattered jeans, is pushed up against a wall.

The video appears to be show Simmons pepper spraying Watson. 

Simmons then appears to brandish a small knife, and can be seen jabbing the weapon into Watson. 

Simmons was arrested on Tuesday night in connection with the attack.

Watson, who lives two blocks from the station, leaves behind her fiancé and 12-year-old son.  

“My daughter was a beautiful person,” the victim’s father told the New York Daily News outside her home Tuesday.  

“She had a job, she was going to work. We just want to bury her body.”