UPPER WEST SIDE, Manhattan (PIX11) — Two men were indicted Tuesday in the January death of 74-year-old Maria Hernandez, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said.
Hernandez was found in her Upper West Side apartment with her hands and feet tied behind her back, according to police. Hernandez’s death was ruled a homicide. Her cause of death was homicidal asphyxia with compression of the neck, according to the medical examiner’s office.
Police arrested Lashawn Mackey, 47, of Brooklyn, on Jan. 21. Mackey proclaimed his innocence while being escorted away by police.
A second person, Terrence Moore, 53, was arrested on Jan. 24. Police said Moore was seen with Mackey both inside and leaving Hernandez’s apartment building, as well as around Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Mackey worked as a temporary superintendent at Hernandez’s Upper West Side apartment between May and August 2022, court documents said.
On Jan. 18, the two men allegedly entered the apartment building together, the DA’s office said. They’re accused of breaking into the superintendent’s office, where they allegedly cut the wire of the security camera systems.
The two men left the building with two rolling bags that belonged to Hernandez, the district attorney’s office said.
Lashawn Mackey has been charged with the following:
- Two counts of murder in the first degree, a class A-I felony
- One count of aggravated sexual abuse in the first degree, a class B felony
- One count of burglary in the first degree, a class B felony
- One count of robbery in the first degree, a class B felony
- One count of burglary in the second degree, a class C felony
Terrence Moore has been charged with the following:
- Two counts of murder in the second degree, a class A-I felony
- One count of aggravated sexual abuse in the first degree, a class B felony
- One count of burglary in the first degree, a class B felony
- One count of robbery in the first degree, a class B felony
- One count of burglary in the second degree, a class C felony
