Ash Kelley

Kitty Genovese was slumped in front of the back door to her building, a locked door preventing her from reaching the safety of her apartment.

Oh my God.

What happened next occurred out of the view of any neighbor's windows, so the specific details of the attack are unknown, but according to the autopsy performed the following day by Queens medical examiner William Benson, there were 13 stab wounds scattered over the body, nine in front and four in back, a stab wound in the throat and several slashes on the right hand.

That's unreal.

The wounds on the hand were jagged, indicating Kitty had tried to fight off her attacker.

But by that time, her injuries would have left her with little energy to do anything.

Despite the number and severity of stab wounds, the cause of death was listed as bilateral pneumothorax, meaning the air from a punctured lung had filled her chest and compressed her lungs, causing her to suffocate.

That's a horrible way to go.

After stabbing Kitty repeatedly, the man sexually assaulted her and robbed her of the $49 she had on her and then fled to his car.

Mm-hmm.

Piece of shit.

Garbage.

Just moments after the attacker fled the scene, her next door neighbor, Sophia Farrar, got a phone call from one of the other residents in the building.

The frantic neighbor told Farrar that Kitty had been attacked and was outside by the vestibule.

Without hesitating, Sophia dropped the phone and ran down the back stairs.

When she reached the door, she found that it wouldn't budge because Kitty was slumped against it.

A moment later, Sophia was able to get the door open and found Kitty quote, in a pool of blood, moaning and gurgling and barely conscious.

Sophia shouted for someone to call an ambulance, then held the gravely wounded Kitty in her arms, whispering to her that help was on the way.

I'm so glad she wasn't alone throughout all of that, but she was alone through so much of that.

It's true.