The Murder Book 2008

July 21st -- 2 dead & arrest in Staten Island stabbing...

Henry Showard, a 45-year-old black male, was stabbed to death last Thursday with a screwdriver inside his Staten Island apartment, and yesterday police announced that they'd arrested Ruth "Grandma" Wade, a 64-year-old acquaintance who has a history of violence and drug arrests, according to a story in the Daily News.

Wade, who had been living Showard and his wife in their Stapleton partment, allegedly stabbed Showard in the neck after having an argument with him and his wife.

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An unidentified 44-year-old black male was found shot once in the head last Thursday in front of 1533 Sterling Place in Brooklyn, according to police reports. He was pronounced dead at the scene. No arrests. 

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July 14th -- 1 dead, young woman in the Bronx...

Saoni Casado, a 21-year-old Latina female, was stabbed to death early Sunday morning. According to police reports, Casado brought or was taken to Bronx Lebanon Hospital with stab wounds to her chest; she later died there from her injuries. 

Police later arrested Diana German, 20, and charged her with Casado's murder. Police reported that Casado and German had some type of dispute that led to the stabbing. German was arrested at home at 1665 Morris Avenue in the Bronx.

Saoni's friends put together this tibute to her on youtube.

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Read the full story behind the murder of dancer Catherine Woods, subject of my book "Death of a Dream," co-authored by CBS News correspondent Erin Moriarty. This is the behind the scenes story of Catherine's controversial lifestyle, the two men in her life, and the trial of Paul Cortez. Reviewers called the book: "compelling" and "a chilling good read." Available at bookstores under 'true crime' and online.

First chapter available free.

July 11th -- 4 dead...arrest made in Patrick Hernandez murder case...

Patrick Hernandez, an 18-year-old black youth, was shot and killed early Thursday in the crime-ridden Far Rockaway section of Queens, according to the Daily News.

On Friday afternoon, police arrested Karon Lenihan, 17, and charged him with Hernandez' murder.

Hernandez, an honor roll student who was to go to college at SUNY Cortland this fall, was shot to death by a thug who jumped out of a passing car, shouted "What now?" and pumped a shotgun blast into Hernandez' chest as his stunned 16-year-old brother looked on, the News story reported. The shooting took place in front of 249 Beach 15th Street at 10:30 a.m. after the brothers had just finished cleaning a neighborhood beach.

Ralphael Jones, Hernandez' brother, told the News: "He stumbled, ran a little bit and then fell down. I said, 'Pat, hold on, hold on.' I held his hand and said, 'Pat, I love you,' but he couldn't say anything. He was trying hard to breathe, and then he just passed."

Hernandez became at least the third teenager killed in Far Rockaway since May. Reportedly, the shooter was an area thug who'd been feuding with Hernandez.

Hernandez played on his high school football team and made a strong impression on coach Walter Wilkerson who told the News: "He was a good leader on the team and a good role model on the field. The other kids looked up to him. I thought he'd be someone who I'd see three or four years from now and say, 'Hey, this kid made it.'"

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Carlos Rios, a 17-year-old Latino youth, was stabbed to death Thursday evening after arguing with Jose Fuentes, 22, at 89th Street and Northern Blvd. in the Jackson Heights section of Queens, according to a brief in the Daily News.

Police say Fuentes stabbed Rios several times in the chest; the teen was taken to Elmhurst Hospital Center but died a short time later. Fuentes was arrested and charged with his murder.

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An unidentified female in her 50s was found bludgeoned to death Thursday in a building on Boynton and Watson Avenues in the West Farms neighborhood of the Bronx, according to a brief in the NY Post. Police arrested the woman who lived in the apartment, 49-year-old Ana Jurado. Reportedly, Jurado hit the unidentified woman several times in the head with a blunt object, and left her on the living room floor. She was discovered after neighbors complained of a foul odor.

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An unidentified 20-year-old Latino male was stabbed to death early Friday morning in front of 2301 Jerome Avenue in the Bronx, according to a police report. He was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. No arrests.

 

July 8th & 9th -- 2 dead...

Grant Fleming, a 21-year-old black male, was shot to death with his own gun Tuesday evening while he apparently was attempting to rob someone, according to a story in the Daily News.

Fleming was shot on the fifth floor of a building in the Richmond Terrace Houses on Staten Island. He collapsed and was taken to Richmond University Medical Center where he later died. The News story reported that Fleming was from a "criminal family" and that two of his brothers are in prison.

Rudy Fleming, 23, was convicted of killing Nicole duFresne on the lower East Side in 2005. Another brother, Royal Fleming, 29, beat a man with a baseball bat during a robbery last year, according to the story.

A police source told The News: "It looks like he was shot with his own gun. This family is very well known to us on Staten Island for their long and glorious history of criminal behavior."

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An unidentified Latino male, believed to be between 17 and 20 years old, was found stabbed to death at West 162nd Street and Broadway in upper Manhattan, according to a police report. He was taken to Columbia Presbysterian Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. No arrests.

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July 7th -- 1 dead in Brooklyn...

Yemina Smith, a 30-year-old black female, was stabbed multiple times early Sunday inside a building at East 22nd Street and Clarendon Road in the Kensington section of Brooklyn, according to a brief in the NY Post. She was taken to Kings County Hospital where she died sometime later.

Police arrested Habika Hickman, 30, a neighbor of the victim and charged her with second-degree murder; a brief in the Daily News reported that the two had had a long-running feud. She'd allegedly stabbed the unidentified woman repeatedly with a sharp object.

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Read the full story behind the murder of dancer Catherine Woods, subject of my book "Death of a Dream," co-authored by CBS News correspondent Erin Moriarty. This is the behind the scenes story of Catherine's controversial lifestyle, the two men in her life, and the trial of Paul Cortez. Reviewers called the book: "compelling" and "a chilling good read." Available at bookstores under 'true crime' and online.

First chapter available free.

July 6th -- 6 dead over holiday weekend....

Zeanie White, a 21-year-old black woman, was shot to death and four others were injured early Sunday after someone opened fire at a backyard grill-out to celebrate the 4th of July weekend, according to police reports and a story in the Daily News.

The shooting broke out around 1 a.m. Sunday outside 969 Gates Ave. in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. White's brother collapsed at the scene after he heard his sister had been hit. "I want to see my sister!" he said. "That's my only sister!"

There was no indication of why someon began shooting. No arrests.

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Kidson George, a 26-year-old black Army Reservist who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, was shot to death on July 4th at a party in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, according to stories in the Daily News and NY Post.

George, who traveled to his hometown of Brooklyn from Fort Dix in New Jersey for the holiday weekend, was standing on the porch of a house on East New York Avenue with his new girlfriend when the woman's ex came by the house. According to witnesses interviewed by The News, the ex-boyfriend fired a couple of rounds, killing George, and wounding another partygoer before jumping into a waiting car and driving off.

The witness told The News: "He saw them together, grabbed his gun and shot him. He said nothing at all; no warning, no anything."

The girlfriend was not hurt. No arrests.

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Charles Pena, a 29-year-old Latino male, was stabbed to death and two of his teenage friends were in critical condition last night after they were attacked early Saturday by a mob at Ashford and Liberty Streets in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, according to a story in the Daily News.

No arrests, no motive. The father of one of the wounded teens told The News: "I know they have problems around here. These kids can't find jobs, so when they're hanging out, things like this are going to happen."

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Kenneth Powers, a 27-year-old black male, was shot outside the Sheepshead Bay Houses in Brooklyn early Saturday morning after a fight broke out at a party, according to the same News story. Powers was taken to Lutheran Medical Center where he later died.

Powers' relatives told The News that he was having an ongoing fight with another man about the paternity of Powers' girlfriend's baby. Powers' mother Evelyn told a reporter: "Wow, how could you have somebody killed over a baby? It's unreal."

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Garfield Nelson, 33, and Wayne Burnetter, 29, were killed early Saturday morning when a car they were riding in smashed into a carpet store on Rocakaway Blvd., Queens, according to a story in the Daily News.

Stephen Bush, 28, of Far Rockaway, lost control of his 2005 gray Cadillac sedan near Brookville Blvd. in the Rosedale section, and was later arrested and charged with first-degree vehicular manslaughter, driving while intoxicated and driving while impaired.

Nelson's mother told The News that he was a devoted father to his two young children. "He was just a very nice boy. Very helpful. A great son," she said. "He loved his family. We're all very close."

July 3rd -- 1 dead, arrest & a tribute....

Olympia Peck, a 27-year-old female, was found stabbed in the chest inside her home on Fulton Street and East 172nd Street in the Bronx earlier this week, and police have arrested Angelique McClennahan, her roommate, and charged her in connection with the murder, according to a brief in the NY Post.

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The NY Times recently ran a lovely portrait of Michelle Hyams, a woman found murdered in her Chelsea apartment on June 9th. No one has yet been arrested for her murder but if you click here, you can read the poignant tribute. She sounds like one of those New Yorkers who make the city the great place it is.

June 27th -- 1 dead, a 15-year-old girl....

Keyanna Jones, a 15-year-old black female, was stabbed to death in Queens Wednesday evening after she reportedly tried to play the peacekeeper with a group of teenagers who were throwing bricks and shouting insults at another man, according to stories in the Daily News and NY Post. The man who was being chased by the mob, Winston Alladin, 39, a security guard in Manhattan at a high end Japanese store, allegedly wound up stabbing Jones twice in the chest, according to witnesses.

There is an element of Rashomon to the story: Was Alladin an angry aggressor, or did he only defend himself when confronted by a mob? And was Jones trying to calm the mob, or was she in the middle of it? The police are still sorting it out and looking for more witnesses.

The bizarre incident began when Alladin, a Trinidadian immigrant, reportedly hurled racial epithets at a black woman and her child who had cut into a bus line in downtown Jamaica. Some teens from the bus reportedly were offended by Alladin's curses and followed him when he disembarked. Eventually a mob formed and they began throwing bricks and bottles at Alladin, according to the stories.

Jones came upon the scene and urged the men to let Alladin go but he was still fighting and pulled a knife and allegedly stabbed Jones who was at the scene because she'd walked a friend to the bus stop. Alladin later reportedly told police he had acted in self-defense, according to the stories. A story in the NY Times cast doubt on Jones' peacekeeping role and described Jones as one of Alladin's "tormentors."

Meanwhile, Jones, nicknamed "Smiley" because of her cheerful disposition, is dead, and her 30-year-old mother Shaqwana Jackson told The News: "I just can't get over seeing her in the morgue at 15. That was my first born, my daughter, [and] I had her young, so we grew together. Not only did I lose a part of me, I lost a friend."

Alladin was charged with manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon. Assistant Queens District Attorney Mario Karonis said that Alladin's claims of self-defense were taken into account when he was charged. An employee at Takashimaya, the store where Alladin worked as a guard, told The Times of Alladin: “I’ve known him for the last eight years and this person is not a violent person. He’s a good person. He’s not a person who looks for trouble.”

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June 25th -- 5 dead in shootings and stabbings...

Five people were murdered in a 12-hour period in NYC Monday night into Tuesday morning, and it merited a story on page 28 of The News, a few briefs in the NY Post, and nothing in the NY Times. The bloody roll call includes:

Vincent Cruz, a 17-year-old Latino youth, was found shot to death early Tuesday in front of 205 Eldridge Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, according to a police report and a story in the Daily News. He had been shot one time in the head, and was pronounced dead on arrival at Bellevue Hospital. Sources told The News that the shooting may have been in retalliation for a remark Cruz made against someone's girlfriend earlier in the day.

Jonathan Diaz, a friend of Cruz, told The News: "He's too young. He didn't deserve that."

No arrests.

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Tynel Van-Kallen, a 22-year-old black male from South Carolina, was found stabbed several times in the neck and chest Monday night near Hughes Avenue and E. 181st Street in the Bronx, according to a police report. Van-Kallen, who was in the city visiting a cousin, was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital where he later died. Police arrested Jermaine Elston, 29, of the Bronx and charged him with murder and criminal possession of a weapon.

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Guillermo Rojas, a 24-year-old Latino male, was found stabbed once in the chest late Monday night in front of 87-33 112th Street in Queens, according to a police report. He was taken to Jamaica Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. No arrests.

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Christopher Cruz, a 19-year-old Latino youth, was found stabbed in the chest Monday night in front of 2190 Second Avenue in Manhattan, according to police report. He was taken to Metropolitan Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. No arrests.

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An unidentified black male was found shot to death early Tuesday morning inside 466 W. 150th Street in Harlem, according to a police report. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Harlem Hospital. No arrests.

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June 23rd -- 5 dead in separate arguments....

Larry Talley, a 23-year-old Latino male and father of a baby girl, was stabbed in the head and chest early Sunday morning after Talley came to the aid of a friend who was being beaten by a group of young men, according to a story in the Daily News.

Talley was trying to protect friend Carlos Garcia who was set upon by a group of men who had just left a club at 538 Claremont Parkway in the Bronx. The men turned on Talley and one or more stabbed Talley. He was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital where he later died from his injuries.

Talley had only become a father two months ago, according to the News article, and prided himself on being a doting father. He was working at the Hunts Point Fish Market, and saving money to get married.

His girlfriend Francis Hernandez was with Talley at the hospital when he died. She told The News: "His eyes were open. I gave him a kiss. I told him to come back - that his daughter and me needed him. But he didn't come back."

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Robert Leandry, a 28-year-old male, was shot to death early Sunday morning after getting into an argument with another man in a courtyard of the Jacob Riis Houses near E. 10th St. in the East Village, according to police and briefs in the NY Post and Daily News. No arrests.

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Kevin Macklin, a 41-year-old male, was shot to death early Sunday morning utside his home, at 112-02 148th St., in the Jamaica section of Queens, according to a brief in the Daily News. Macklin's foe left the sidewalk, but returned 15 minutes later with a gun, shot Macklin once in the face, then fled, said cops.

He was taken to Jamaica Hospital but died hours later. No arrests.

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An unidentified 20-year-old black male was found shot to death Saturday evening in front of 502 Cleveland Street in the East New York section of Brooklyn, according to a police report and a brief in the NY Post.The police said that the man was in an argument with another male when he was shot in torso. He was taken to Brookdale Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. No arrests.

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An unidentified 63-year-old white male died yesterday from a head wound he received on Friday in front of 415 51st Street in Manhattan, according to a police report. The man was taken to Roosevelt Hospital where he remained in critical condition until Sunday when he died from his injuries. An investigation revealed he'd been beaten, allegedly by Theodore Bonnemere, 50, of the Bronx, who was arrested and charged with manslaughter, police said.