(Washington Insider Magazine) – A homeless man who spent 27 years in prison for murder was arrested as the second suspect in the death of María Hernández, a Dominican great-grandmother strangled and tied up in her Upper West Side (NYC) apartment.
Terrence Moore, a homeless man who spent 27 years in prison for murder, was arrested as the second suspect in the death of María Hernández (74), a Dominican great-grandmother strangled and tied up in her Upper West Side (NYC) apartment.
Lashawn Mackey (47), a former worker at the building where the crime took place, had already been arrested over the weekend and charged with murder, attempted murder and robbery. Detectives said at the time that he would not have acted alone, as he was caught on surveillance footage with another man sometime before or after Hernandez’s death on Wednesday night, January 18.
Moore, 53, now faces robbery and murder charges. Although cameras at the 126 W. 83rd St. building were destroyed, detectives were able to track the second suspect using street surveillance footage from Hernandez’s building on Manhattan’s Upper West Side to a homeless shelter in Crown Heights. (Brooklyn) where he was arrested yesterday without incident, the Daily News reported.
Moore Was Convicted of Murder
Moore was convicted of murder, attempted robbery and gun possession in 1990, according to court records. He was paroled in 2017 and was arrested later that year on four counts of forcible contact.
Police believe Moore helped Mackey get into Hernandez’s apartment while the victim was attending a Broadway matinee show and an early dinner with his younger sister Maria Tirredo, a resident of the same building.
It is not clear if Hernández surprised the invaders upon arriving at his apartment or if they entered shortly after his arrival. They allegedly tied her up and strangled her while searching her home for valuables. It has not been reported if any theft took place.
Hernández was found dead by her sister on the night of Wednesday the 18th, hours after they had walked together. On Saturday the medical examiner announced that the elderly woman died of “homicidal asphyxia that included neck compression.” She also had fractures and bruises, police sources said.
The victim’s hands and feet were bound and she had a gag in her mouth when she was found on her bedroom floor. She was pronounced dead inside her residence. The Dominican immigrant had three daughters, eight grandchildren and a 1-year-old great-grandson, her devastated relatives told the Daily News and New York Post.
Mackey was held without bail after an arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court on Sunday, where prosecutors claimed the murder was premeditated, citing a search of the basement office of the current superintendent before the crime. Apparently a crowbar was used to enter and a DVR equipment that would have recorded security images was stolen. Instead, there were no signs of forced entry into the apartment, which led to the presumption that Hernández knew the attacker(s).
Mackey worked in the building temporarily at some point after serving a sentence for assault in 1999 and completing probation, his New York County Defense Services attorney said.
This article is authored by EI Diaria.
