After the arrest of a former worker at the building where the crime of María Hernández took place, NYPD is still looking for a second suspect who was caught with him on surveillance video.
A second suspect is being sought by the NYPD in the brutal murder of María Hernández, a 74-year-old Dominican great-grandmother who was strangled to death in her Upper West Side (NYC) apartment on the night of Wednesday, January 18.
Criminal Charged With Murder
Lashawn Mackey (47), a former worker at the building where the crime took place, was arrested over the weekend and charged with murder, attempted murder and robbery. But detectives don’t believe the suspect acted alone and in fact he was caught on surveillance footage with another man at some point before or after Hernandez’s death, sources told the Daily News.
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 current superintendent’s basement office prior to 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, leading to the presumption that Hernández knew his attacker.
Mackey worked in the building temporarily sometime after serving a sentence for assault in 1999 and completing probation, his New York County Defense Services attorney said.
Hernandez was found dead by her sister Wednesday night, hours after they attended a Broadway matinee show together. On Saturday the medical examiner announced that she died of “homicidal asphyxia including compression of the neck.” 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 they found her on the floor of her bedroom, police said. She was pronounced dead inside her residence at 126 W. 83rd St. near Columbus Ave.
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.
All charges are mere accusations and those charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
This article is authored by El Diario.
