WEST WARWICK — An 18-year-old woman who the police say grabbed a knife from her waistband and stabbed another woman during a confrontation Thursday night was charged yesterday with first-degree murder.

According to investigators, Abimbola O. Johnson fatally stabbed 18-year-old Natasha Gonsalves, of Cranston, after Gonsalves and two friends followed Johnson to her house at 114 Pepin St.

Johnson and Gonsalves had words, possibly over a man, and then Johnson went into her parents’ house and returned with a kitchen knife. An argument ensued and Johnson pulled the knife from her waistband, charged at Gonsalves and stabbed her, the police said.

Johnson was ordered held without bail yesterday after an appearance in Superior Court, Warwick, about a quarter-mile from the neighborhood where the stabbing occurred. The police said they received two calls Thursday night, one for a disturbance near 114 Pepin St. and one for a stabbing.

Officers found Gonsalves on the ground in front of a neighboring house, where people who had come outside were trying to help her.

Don Shurtleff, of 91 Pepin St., said he looked out after 10 p.m. and saw the street lined with police cars. By the time he got outside, rescue workers had already taken Gonsalves to Kent Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Another neighbor said she saw two young women running around in the street. She also saw a pair of sneakers on the ground across the street from her house and thought someone might have fallen. Shurtleff described Johnson as a “quiet kid” who lives with her parents and siblings and works at the nearby KFC on Quaker Lane. Neighbors said Johnson has a son who is about 2 years old, and they expressed sympathy for both families.

Gonsalves was one of 470 students to graduate last year from Cranston High School West.

Shurtleff said he grew up in the neighborhood, moved and then moved back three years ago.

“It’s not like we’ve got any crime to speak of,” he said.

The case remains under investigation, the police said.

Johnson is due back in court April 7 for a bail hearing, according to court records.

—With reports from staff writer Talia Buford

bjeffers@projo.com