UPPER WEST SIDE, Manhattan (PIX11) — The second person sought by the NYPD in connection with the death of a 74-year-old woman found bound and gagged inside her Upper West Side apartment was arrested late Tuesday, according to authorities.
Terrence Moore, 53, was taken into custody without incident after being tracked by surveillance video to Brooklyn, where he resides, police said. He’s accused of murder and burglary, the same charges already leveled against alleged accomplice Lashawn Mackey, who was arrested Saturday. Officials, however, are yet to publicly detail Moore’s specific alleged role in the Jan. 18 slaying of Maria Hernandez.
Hernandez was found by her sister lying unresponsive on the floor of her apartment on West 83rd Street near Columbus Avenue around 9:55 p.m., police sources previously told PIX11 News. Hernandez was bound at the hands and feet, and covered with a sheet, sources said. She had multiple bruises and fractures, and her death was ruled a homicide by asphyxia, officials said.
Hernandez’s sister, who lives in a different unit in the same building, found the victim just hours after they’d returned home from seeing a show together, sources said. When Hernandez’s daughter couldn’t get in touch with her, she asked her aunt to check in, leading to the grim discovery, sources said.
Investigators, who believed that the slaying may have resulted from a robbery gone wrong, found that the security system in the superintendent’s office had had its cables cut and was missing its DVD, sources said.
Despite the apparent attempts at covering up the incident, police arrested Mackey, also of Brooklyn, on Saturday. Mackey, 47, proclaimed his innocence to reporters while being led from an NYPD stationhouse later that day.
Earlier this week, police announced that they were seeking a second person, who was seen with Mackey both inside and leaving Hernandez’s apartment building, as well as around Manhattan and Brooklyn.
During a Sunday court appearance, Mackey was ordered held without bail, according to public online records. He is due back in court Friday. The records did not contain information on an initial court appearance for Moore as of early Wednesday.
