KIPS BAY, Manhattan (PIX11) – An arrest was made Monday after a woman was shot to death and left inside a bag on a Manhattan street, police said.
Authorities found Yazmeen Williams, 31, with a gunshot wound to the head and wrapped in a plastic bag inside a sleeping bag at 207 East 27th St. near Third Avenue in Kips Bay around 5 p.m. Friday, according to the NYPD and sources. The decomposing body was on a dolly next to a mound of garbage bags, sources said.
A man was seen on video dragging the bag on an electric wheelchair before cops found the body near a tailor shop, law enforcement sources said.
Police have not released the identity of the suspect who was arrested. Community members spotted him at the nearby Straus Houses on Monday, restrained him, and called police, sources said.
Police and medics had to shield the man from an angry crowd at the Straus Houses as he was taken away on a stretcher, video of the incident showed.
“They more or less surrounded him like a mob and started to attack him,” said witness Ted Oehmke.
Police recovered a gun at the location of the arrest, authorities said.
The victim’s mother was among the crowd at the Straus Houses as the suspect was taken into custody.
“He took a young beautiful girl, snuffed her out, took her life away from her. Threw my daughter in a garbage bag. The whole community was upset because she didn’t deserve that. He’s scum,” said Nicole Williams, the victim’s mother.
Yazmeen Williams was a resident of the Kips Bay neighborhood, according to police. The relationship between Williams and the suspect remains unclear, as well as a motive for the killing.
“We honestly don’t know who would hurt her,” Williams' aunt, Nisha Ramirez, told PIX11 News. “She’s sweet. She’s a nice person and she grew up here. We don’t know why someone would have a motive to do something to her.”
Williams had a twin brother and an 8-year-old sister, according to her family. She was about to begin a new job at the New York City Housing Authority.
A GoFundMe page titled "Justice for Yazzy" was created to raise money for Williams' funeral.
