This piece is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
19-year-old Ithaca Breanne Keane from Ithaca was fatally stabbed at 709 Triphammer Road by 20-year-old Damian Stewart at approximately 2 p.m. on Saturday, according to a Monday Cayuga Heights Police Department press release sent to The Sun by Chief of Police Jerry L. Wright.
Stewart was arrested at the scene and charged with Murder in the second degree. He is currently being held at the Tompkins County Jail and was arraigned in the Tompkins County Centralized Arraigned Program Court, according to the press release.
The stabbing happened while Cornell graduation ceremonies were ongoing. In a Saturday press release from the Cayuga Heights Police Department through Tompkins County Sheriff Derek R. Osborne, the department claimed there was “no threat to the community.”
Keane was “medically treated at the scene and then transported while life saving measure[s] continued. The victim succumbed to her injuries while in transport to a local trauma center after attempted life saving measures were unsuccessful,” according to the Monday press release.
Matt Keane, the father of the victim, told Syracuse.com that the police told him his daughter was alive on Saturday night when they arrived at his door. He was also told that helicopters were requested to fly her to Syracuse for treatment, but were unable due to the weather. The Sun was not able to immediately confirm this claim with the police department.
Wright stated that “the Cayuga Heights Police Department was assisted by the New York State Police, Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office, Cayuga Heights Fire Department and Bangs Ambulance” in the press release sent to The Sun.
Breanne was a high school senior at Lehman Alternative Community School, Matt told Syracuse.com. The school is a public alternative combined middle and high school that “emphasizes student choice and responsibility,” according to its website.
Breanne enjoyed playing music and also ran track. She planned to enter the SUNY Cobleskill Canine Training and Management Program and had a deep love for animals. Her father described her as a “beautiful, wonderful person” who was “just so carefree.”
Breanne lived in her own apartment provided by the Learning Web, an Ithaca-based charity that provides housing and support to local youth in need, according to Syracuse.com.
“The Sheriff’s Office extends its deepest condolences to the victim’s loved ones, and all those impacted by this tragic incident in the Village of Cayuga Heights. Incidences of this nature deeply affect the entire community,” Osborne wrote on Facebook. “We also want to express our support for the members of the Cayuga Heights PD as they conduct this difficult and important investigation.”
According to Wright, the investigation is still ongoing.
Everett Chambala is a member of the Class of 2027 in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. He is a staff writer for the News department and can be reached at echambala@cornellsun.com.
