Barrie death now 1st-degree murder

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Huston-Tillotson University student track star Fatima Barrie died Wednesday, and on Thursday Austin police said suspect Kaitlyn Ritcherson now faces a charge of first-degree murder in the stabbing.

Barrie, 21, was stabbed in Downtown Austin on Fifth Street on Dec. 4 just after 2 a.m. Police said Barrie was with two friends when she left a downtown club, where a large crowd gathered outside. Though her condition was said to have improved last week , she died at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday at University Medical Center Brackenridge where she had been a patient since she was stabbed in the neck.

Ritcherson is being held on $125,00 bond.

Earlier on Wednesday, Ritcherson , 19, was indicted on aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge.

“We are sorry for the loss of one of our students and continue to hold Fatima’s family in our prayer,” said Huston-Tillotson University President Larry L. Earvin.

Barrie earned Huston-Tillotson athletic yearly awards, Red River Athletic Conference honors, and consistently qualified for National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics nationals. As a biology major, she was interested in pursuing a career in medicine.

Funeral arrangements are pending and will be announced by the family. The Huston-Tillotson University campus is observing the holiday break with classes and normal operations resuming on Tuesday, Jan. 3.

Witnesses said they saw Ritcherson where it happened -- at 201 W. Fifth St. -- wearing a red jacket, which authorities said they later used to link Ritcherson to the incident.

A witness connected to Ritcherson through mutual friends told police Ritcherson ran toward Barrie when a man tried to take the knife from her hand but couldn't. The witness told police Ritcherson was able to break away and ran toward Barrie.

Friends told police that as they were walking away, Barrie fell to the ground bleeding.

Ritcherson told police she was at that location but didn't have a knife. She told police a woman hit her in the head and stabbed her right leg.

Police said while they were investigating the case, she drove herself to Seton Southwest Hospital -- complaining of a cut to her leg.

On Thursday, police said that Ritcherson and Barrie did not know each other and that they had never met.