An East Harlem woman with head trauma was found dead in a bathtub — and detectives are questioning her niece in connection with the killing, police and sources said.
The victim, 56, was found fully clothed in the bathtub of a third-floor apartment at 162 East 100th St. Friday evening, said police, who found her after someone called asking them to check on the victim.
“The victim had blood on her face and contusions,” an NYPD spokesman said Saturday.
Investigators were questioning the victim’s niece — who originally did not want to let cops in to check on the woman — police sources said Saturday. Authorities did not initially publicly identify the victim
“The niece, she was a troubled woman. She was crazy, getting into fights and stuff,” charged a neighbor who lives in the building next door at 160 East 100th St. and declined to give her name. “She’d come home and she’d have a busted face or something. I think the aunt was trying to get her to move out. That’s what I heard.”
Louise Perez, a neighbor from the fourth floor, said she and her husband heard “banging” and loud noises Friday night. Perez described the victim as a “nice woman” who was “happy and smiling all the time” and worked as a home attendant.
“I’m going to miss her. We just found out from one of the cops that she died. It’s sad. I would see her coming and going, we would say hi,” Perez said. “She was happy and smiling all the time I see her. It’s scary now to live here, that happened to somebody I know, it could have happened to me. It’s just unbelievable.”