US: Transgender woman fights back attack by man on first date

Kordel Stewart, 24, is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for the alleged attack that happened on Sept. 20, reported ABC News.

 Tayla Smith, 22, said she met  Stewart on a dating app.

She even described him as a "gentleman" before they met on their first date.

A couple of days after meeting and texting with Stewart, she said she invited him to her home in southeast Houston, the news channel reported.

Tayla Smith said she revealed her gender identity to him before their meeting.

"I would never not tell a person," Smith told ABC News. "That was something discussed way before we even started having a conversation."

Speaking on their meeting, Smith told the news channel that about five hours later, the two began kissing before he allegedly pinned her hands under his knees, pulled out a knife and slit her throat.

"I guess it was in his shorts, and he just slit my throat at the same time as he covered my mouth," Smith said.

She said the violent fight ensued from that point.

"At this point, I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, Tayla! If you don't fight back, you're going to die. He's going to get this knife out of your hands, and he's going to stab you to death,'" she said.

Smith said she reached neighbours for help.

Stewart was arrested hours later and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He remains in the Harris County Jail on a $125,000 bond, reported ABC News.

Smith told the news channel that she did not know about prior charges Stewart was facing.

Court records in Galveston show Stewart was charged with murder in 2020. He was accused of shooting and killing a man during a sale of shoes, reported ABC News.

The case was dismissed in April of 2023. Records cite that an eyewitness, a surviving victim of the shooting, refused to cooperate.