Syracuse, N.Y. — A 19-year-old woman who was fatally stabbed in her apartment Saturday in Cayuga Heights had a disagreement with the man accused of killing her, police said.

Breanne Stacy Keane, who was born in Syracuse, was killed just after 2 p.m. in her apartment at 709 Triphammer Road.

Damian Stewart, 20, of Ithaca, was arrested at the scene and charged with second-degree murder, Cayuga Heights Police Chief Jerry Wright said Monday.

Stewart was arraigned on the murder charge and is being held in the Tompkins County Jail, Wright said.

Stewart was at Keane’s apartment Saturday when the two had a disagreement, police said in court documents. After the argument, Stewart picked up a large kitchen-style knife and stabbed Keane in the stomach, police said.

After she fell to the kitchen floor, Stewart squatted next to her and continued stabbing her several more times, according to police.

Breanne Stacy Keane

Stewart and Keane had known each other for about a year, the woman’s father, Matt Keane, told Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard.

Matt Keane said he was told his daughter was still alive when police arrived. Helicopters were requested to airlift her to Syracuse for treatment, but they could not fly because of the weather, he said. Instead, she was taken by ambulance and died on the way.

He said he had spoken to his daughter around 1:20 p.m. Saturday. During the 40-second phone call, she told her father she had a friend over, he said.

Breanne Stacy Keane split her childhood between Syracuse, where she lived with her mother, and Ithaca, where she lived with her father, he said.

She attended DeWitt Middle School, her father said. Though she struggled academically at times, she was a musical savant who played guitar and stand-up bass in the school orchestra, he said. She also ran track and earned a varsity letter.

She was a senior at Lehman Alternative Community School, a combined middle and high school in Ithaca, her father said.

She was scheduled to graduate in June.

Her goal was to enroll in the SUNY Cobleskill canine training and management program, her father said.

She loved animals, especially her cat Rusty. Rusty was a stray cat she rescued in Ithaca, Matt Keane said.

“She was so carefree,” her father said. “She is just a beautiful, wonderful person.”

She had her own apartment in Ithaca but lived close to her father and visited regularly, he said. The apartment was provided through Learning Web, an Ithaca-based nonprofit that helps young adults “build capacity and thrive as self-assured, self-directed, productive adults,” according to its website.

Her father said she had everything planned out after graduation to become independent and work toward her goals.

Cayuga Heights is a village of about 4,000 people adjacent to Cornell University.