18-year-old randomly thrown into the street, beaten by woman in downtown Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH — A young woman tells Channel 11 she’s “lucky” after she was attacked by a stranger in downtown Pittsburgh Wednesday.

Sofia Mancing, 18, had just finished a day at her summer internship and was walking along Smithfield Street around 3 p.m. when she says a woman struck her in the back of her head with a shoe.

“I was terrified, thinking ‘Why me?’,” she said. “I didn’t do anything wrong. I’ve never seen this woman in my life.”

Sofia says she tried to keep walking and got out her phone to call 911.

“She caught up to me and grabbed me by the hair, threw me into the street. She started kicking me and punching me in the face,” Sophia recalled.

It was the middle of the afternoon. Sofia says she felt safe walking to the bus stop.

“I was screaming for help and I knew there were people around. No one did anything. They just stood there and watched,” she said.

As suddenly as it began, the attack ended. The mysterious woman walked away and Sofia was left injured in the street. She suffered a concussion and a broken nose.

Police caught up to the woman they say did it about four blocks away. Shurontaya Festa is now facing an assault charge.

Channel 11 did reach out to District Attorney Stephen Zappala who sent us a statement saying in part:

“It is unfortunate, but I feel it is necessary to caution the community to be aware of your surroundings and stay on high alert when spending time downtown.”

As for Sofia, she’s not sure if she’ll go back.

“After this, I’m not very confident about that. I’m hesitant to go back to my job. Definitely hesitant to ride the bus again and to walk to the stop by myself.”

She also has a message for the people who stood by and never stepped in to help.

“If you see somebody in pain, asking for help, I feel like you should do something,” she said.

Festa is scheduled to be back in court on June 13.

Pittsburgh Director of Public Safety Lee Schmidt sent Channel 11 the following statement:

“The Department of Public Safety is aware of the incident that occurred this week and any events like this cause us concern. We hope for a full and rapid recovery for the victim.

I am immensely proud of our first responders who were on the scene within moments, including Pittsburgh EMS who swiftly transported the victim and Pittsburgh Police who have already made an arrest in this case.

Pittsburgh hosts tens of thousands of individuals attending major events during the summer months. Throughout it all, the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, Pittsburgh Bureau of EMS, and Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire will continue to work hand-in-hand to keep all of Pittsburgh’s spectators safe and secure.

While extremely unfortunate, isolated incidents like this can occur in any community. I encourage everyone to look out for their neighbors, pay attention to what’s happening around them, and if they see anything concerning to say something.”

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