Detectives cuffed on Saturday the brute that, they say, killed a senior during an apparent burglary on the Upper West Side earlier this week.
Police investigators quickly fingered Brooklyn resident Lashawn Mackey, 47, for allegedly committing the callous crime. Police sources state that they placed Mackey at the crime scene after reviewing the building’s security footage.
The arrest was made on Jan. 21 after the NYPD conducted a search warrant at his Crown Heights residence.
Mackey remained defiant as he was taken out of the 20th Precinct stationhouse in shackles by detectives. “I am innocent,” he objected. “Look for the DNA at the crime scene!”
According to police sources, the NYPD were called to the home of 74-year-old Maria Hernandez on 126 West 83rd Street at 9:55 p.m. on Jan. 18 after the senior’s sister reportedly found her dead.
Cops confirmed that Hernandez was discovered with her hands and feet tied, and her face gagged under a pile of clothing in what detectives are calling a botched burglary of the third-floor apartment.
While responding officers initially did not detect a viable cause of death, a subsequent analysis by the medical examiner found that the elderly woman perished from asphyxiation.
Mackey is charged with murder, attempted murder, and two counts of burglary.
