Nikeya Barker pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in the stabbing death of Shurvell Rush.

A guilty plea to first-degree manslaughter is a conviction on that count. It is not the prison term, and it is not a murder verdict. On Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney said Nikeya Barker pleaded guilty before Judge Bryan Browns. Daily Voice reported she had faced a top charge of second-degree murder. The sentence is still ahead.

Patch, Daily Voice, and LongIsland.com reported that on Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, Nikeya Barker, 46, of Bay Shore, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter, a Class B violent felony, in the stabbing death of Shurvell Rush, 47, of Central Islip. The outlets, citing Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney, reported the plea was entered before Judge Bryan Browns. Sentencing is set for Jan. 11, 2027, and prosecutors said she faces 15 to 25 years in prison. Daily Voice reported she had faced a top charge of second-degree murder and that the plea was a deal. A plea to manslaughter admits that count. It is not a sentence, and it is not a trial finding of murder.

Tierney said Barker followed her ex-boyfriend from the train station through the parking lot and stabbed him once in the chest, causing his death. Patch and LongIsland.com, citing court documents and what Barker admitted in the plea, reported that shortly after 6:30 p.m. on May 3, 2025, she confronted Rush at the Bay Shore Long Island Rail Road station about something from their prior relationship. They had dated and were not together at the time of the attack, the district attorney's office said. Prosecutors said she then followed him through the station parking lot toward a row of townhouses while carrying a large knife and stabbed him in the parking lot on Railroad Plaza. Surveillance video captured her throwing the knife into bushes nearby and leaving, the office said. Investigators recovered the knife, and forensic testing found her DNA on it. Rush was taken to South Shore University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead from the stab wound. Those are the facts the plea allocution and the district attorney's account put on the record.

Patch and LongIsland.com reported Barker surrendered to the Suffolk County Police Department Homicide Squad on May 6, 2025. Daily Voice, citing online court records, reported she has been held without bail since that arrest. LongIsland.com reported the case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Michelle Chiuchiolo and was investigated by Detective Adam Quinones, and that Barker is represented by Robert Macedonio. Patch reported Macedonio was not immediately available for comment. Jan. 11, 2027, is the date the court is scheduled to impose the term. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.