Man who stabbed Sri Lankan in Staten Island charged, family sets up GoFundMe page to help with funeral expenses

New York Police have charged a man who  stabbed a Sri Lankan woman to death in a random daytime attack and slashed a good Samaritan who came to her aid, CBS News reported.

Police say 27-year-old Dantey Moore stabbed 63-year-old Geetha Howie, of Staten Island, repeatedly in the face and chest during the attack Monday afternoon. Relatives say Howie was walking home from the bank when she was attacked a few minutes away from her residence.

Pic courtesy - silive.com

Fifty-six-year-old Mark Long saw the attack and was slashed in the arm while trying to intervene.

"I saw two people on the ground on the corner, and as I got closer, I realized that it was a man stabbing a woman," Long told CBS New York.

Long said he ordered the assailant to stop as Howie screamed and struggled.

Geetha's family have set up a GoFundMe page to help with funeral expenses. Her son-inlaw Daniel Fazzina posted a tribute online.

Howie was taken to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead. She had suffered at least 15 stab wounds, the station reports.

Investigators say they believe Moore didn't know Howie and that the attack was random. Police tell the station Moore has a history of violence and drug use, with 34 prior arrests.

Howie's son-in-law told the station she was adored by her loved ones. Their family had been preparing to travel to Sri Lanka for a relative's wedding, he said.

"She loved her family. We have a 3-year-old daughter, her granddaughter, who she absolutely loved," Daniel Fazzina told CBS News. "They were inseparable. This is a senseless tragedy."

According to reports Geetha was a lab technician who in her spare time was skilled with a sewing needle, and known for her cooking. She immigrated to Staten Island from Sri Lanka 30 years ago with her husband, David. They purchased a house on Bement Avenue where they "worked tirelessly" to provide a comfortable life for two children, Shain and Sahani.

Further Geetha's son-inlaw said on the family's GoFundMe page - Geetha was very excited to be traveling to Sri Lanka to attend her only sister's, only son's wedding.  She was so looking forward to being reunited with her sister, brother, mother, and extended family, many of whom she had not seen in years.  We were all anticipating a joyous celebration and family reunion.  Instead, we find ourselves in the midst of an unspeakable tragedy, navigating the new territory of planning the funeral of our beloved Geetha.