The year 2024 went down as one of the grievous episodes in the annals of New York City’s crime history. A plethora of heinous murders left the residents flabbergasted, emphasizing its sheer depravity. The high-profile assassination of a healthcare entity’s CEO in the city’s Midtown zone, the soul-crushing case of a young boy tortured to death due to starvation—purportedly by his parents, or the ghastly murder of a homeless woman torched in a Brooklyn subway, were among the brutality that dramatized the city’s crime scenario.
One of the egregious crimes that captivated global attention was the murder of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompson, aged 50. Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old young man, was charged with the crime incident on a Midtown sidewalk on December 4. Ending a massive manhunt for five days across states, Mangione was traced in a McDonald’s fast-food chain in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Law enforcement found a 3D printed ghost gun, fake identification, and a handwritten manifesto, which read ‘Frankly, these parasites had it coming,’ showcasing a rather frightening perspective.
Despite being accused of such a cold-blooded crime, Mangione showed no remorse. A former high school valedictorian from Baltimore and a computer science graduate from an Ivy League school, Mangione was extradited back to New York City on December 19. Initially, he was indicted with first-degree murder and terrorism charges by the New York State. However, he was subsequently arraigned in Federal Court on charges of murder, stalking, and firearm offenses, which could lead to the death penalty.
Mangione’s blatant disregard for the healthcare industry evoked a surprising sense of sympathy and support for him despite his accused heinous act. His next court appearance in Manhattan is slated for January. In an equally shocking incident, Nadia Vitels, a 52-year-old woman, was found lifeless inside a duffel bag stashed away in a Kips Bay apartment’s closet on March 14. Investigations revealed that she was assaulted and murdered by a squatter couple four days earlier. Post the act, they made off with her credit card and car.
The ruthlessness of the act was blatant; Vitels reportedly died due to blunt force trauma to the head, as reported by the city’s Medical Examiner. The convicts — Halley Tejada, a 19-year-old from Manhattan, and Kensly Alston, an 18-year-old from the Bronx, were eventually seized by U.S. Marshals in York, Pennsylvania. They reportedly crashed Vitels’ car and got engaged on the run using a ring purchased with Vitels’ credit card, demonstrating their recklessness. Both were indicted with multiple felonies, including murder and grand larceny.
On July 5, the gruesome discovery of a body, dumped near the trash on E. 27th St. near Third Ave., horrified the city. The decapitated body was of a 31-year-old Buffalo State College graduate, Yazmeen Williams, wrapped in a sleeping bag and placed on a dolly. Williams was a former resident of the nearby Straus Houses, her sudden disappearance, and subsequent find left the residents traumatized.
Suspicion was quick to fall on 55-year-old Chad Irish, a resident of two blocks away from the murder site. Adding fuel to the conjecture was a viral social media video featuring a man in a wheelchair dumping Williams’ body. The nexus was made, Irish was Williams’ former roommate. When confronted by neighbors and subsequently threatened with a gun, an infuriated crowd mobbed him, leading to his apprehension by the police on July 8.
The police had to struggle through the irate mob to get Irish out safely, who was charged with murder, concealment of a human corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and criminal possession of a weapon. Another shocking case was that of Aliya Fakhri. Accused of murder and arson, Fakhri was said to be the perpetrator of a fire engulfing and killing her ex-boyfriend Edward Jacobs and his friend Anastasia ‘Star’ Ettienne.
Witnesses claimed that in a fit of rage, Fakhri stormed into the unorganized two-story garage that Jacob was squatting in at Jamaica, Queens, and set it on fire. Unfortunately, Ettienne lost her life while attempting to wake Jacobs as the fire spread. The relationship between Jacobs and Fakhri was termed abusive, with Fakhri asserting in the past that she intended on setting the house on fire and murdering Jacobs.
A tragic murder rattled another relationship. Ex-celebrity photographer Benjamin Lozovsky reportedly struck Jacklyn Timinski on her head with a kettlebell, sending her boyfriend, Juan Boria into a whirlpool of sorrow. This culminated in Boria being stabbed during an altercation with a homeless man over a resting place, leading to his death.
Police found Lozovsky, 41, on Timinksi’s Bronx lawn, naked and blood-soaked, on September 8. It was insinuated that both went to Timinski’s place to consume drugs. Following the incident, Boria was living amidst Timinski’s residual blood, untreated for his bipolar disorder. His downward spiral ended tragically when he was stabbed to death in a bustling Bronx commercial area by a homeless man.
A heartbreaking case was the starvation-induced death of four-year-old Jahmeik Modlin in a Harlem apartment. The shocking part of the story was that the apartment where Jahmeik reportedly dwelled was well-stocked with food. Surprisingly, Jahmeik’s sisters, all under the age of 7, managed to survive under these excruciating conditions. When found, they were unable to ingest solid food.
Jahmeik’s mother, Nytavia Ragsdale, 26, was apprehended on charges of criminally negligent homicide and endangering the welfare of a child after Jahmeik was discovered unconscious, critically undernourished, and hypothermic outside their apartment. Later, Jahmeik’s father, Laron Modlin, 25, too was taken into custody under similar charges. It was revealed that the family had come under the scrutiny of the city’s child welfare agency previously, and a review was in process.
In an equally chilling tale, severed hands were found in a bleach-filled crockpot, linking Yonkers and the South Bronx. Investigators traced the murder back to a Bronx apartment. They identified a black bag with a human leg in it. Mohammad Aadil, 40, and Ronei Harris, 18, who had rented a room in that apartment, became prime suspects.
They were accused of murdering Lutalo Henderson, 46, after an argument, and then dismembering his body. After wrapping the body in trash bags, the duo transported the remains in a shopping cart to Yonkers via the Metro North Train. They then set the shopping cart on fire under Oak Street Bridge. Surveillance videos aided law enforcement in tracing this egregious crime back to the Bronx. ‘This was brutal disregard for a human being,’ quoted Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark.
Another grim tale was of a custody battle leading to murder. In July, a block away from the mayor’s potentially safe residence at Gracie Mansion, unfolded a murder-suicide incident. Marisa Galloway, a single mother, was tragically shot by her ex-mother-in-law, Kathleen Leigh, accentuating the ongoing custody fight for the 4-year-old daughter of Leigh’s son.
The incident climaxed with Leigh allegedly shooting Galloway and then taking her own life. In a note left behind, Leigh alleged Galloway of child abuse, claims that were later turned down by city child services investigators. Residents remember Galloway as a special education teacher, a loving and doting mother.
Sabina Rojas, a 33-year-old Brooklyn artist, was murdered in October in an upscale Hamptons wellness spa. The murder was committed by a former boyfriend who, in a tragic turn of events, took his own life after killing Rojas. Rojas, who had received a scholarship from the Technology Immersion Program in 2021, was all set to begin her first residency in Portugal in November.
A holiday season murder erupted at a Brooklyn subway train, where a homeless woman was set ablaze. The culprit, Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, a Guatemalan immigrant, allegedly set the homeless woman on fire while she was asleep on the train. He was charged with first- and second-degree murder and arson. ‘This gruesome act of violence against a vulnerable woman will be met with the most serious consequences,’ declared Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez.