BART stabbing victim was celebrating birthday of boyfriend who drowned at Woodward

The woman who was fatally stabbed at a BART station over the weekend was the high school sweetheart of a boy who drowned at Woodward Reservoir in 2016. On Sunday she was commemorating what would have been his 18th birthday when she was killed, the New York Times reported.

Nia Wilson, 18, and her sister were attacked at the Oakland’s MacArthur BART station. Her sister survived the attack.

John Cowell, a 27-year-old transient, has been charged with murder and attempted murder, according to ABC 7 in San Francisco.

Wilson’s high school boyfriend, Josiah Pratt-Rose, along with his best friend, drowned in Woodward Reservoir in May 2016. The reservoir is located north of Oakdale in Stanislaus County.

Pratt-Rose and his best friend, Jamari Wilson, were seen holding onto each other before they went under water after jumping off a boat to swim in the reservoir. They were not wearing life jackets.

Following a funeral for the boys a few weeks later Nia Wilson — it is unknown if she is related to Jamari Wilson — was standing next to a woman who was fatally shot when someone fired into the crowd of mourners.

According to The New York Times, the woman who was shot, Reggin’a Jefferies, was hit in the neck and fell to the ground. As she struggled to breathe, Jefferies asked Nia Wilson to stay with her.

“Any way she could help,” Nia’s sister, Malika Harris, told the Times, “she would be there for you.”

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This story was originally published July 26, 2018 at 10:45 AM.