By Carol Tannenhauser
Update: On Tuesday, January 24 at around 11 p.m., police arrested Terrence Moore, 53, of Brooklyn, and charged him with murder and two counts of burglary, in connection with the death of Maria Hernandez, a crime that has shocked and saddened the Upper West Side community.
Ms. Hernandez, 74, was found dead in her W. 83rd Street apartment on Wednesday, January 18. Leshawn Mackey, 47, of Brooklyn has been charged with the crime.
“A second individual was seen entering the building with Mackey,” a police spokesperson told WSR. “We can’t speculate about whether that means there was a witness or a surveillance camera,” she added. Apparently, a surveillance photo (right) was taken later of Moore.
Mackey was picked up on Saturday, January 21 and charged with murder, attempted murder, and two counts of burglary. “The motive was robbery,” a police spokesperson told the Rag at the time.
Ms. Hernandez was found by her sister, with her hands and feet tied, lying face down in her bedroom, the New York Post reported. “The residence had been ransacked.” The Medical Examiner told WSR the cause of death was “homicidal asphyxia, including compression of the neck.”
Earlier, police said there were no signs of trauma other than Ms. Hernandez’s bound hands and feet, but the Post reported “she was found with fractures and bruising on her body.”
Scant details are available about Mackey’s arrest, other than “a search warrant was executed at his residence,” the police spokesperson added. “I don’t know how, but they got him. That was a quick turnaround!”
Another call to DCPI (the NYPD press office) on Sunday, January 22 yielded further information about Lashawn Mackey. “Mackey was arrested in 1999 for attempted murder and was off the grid [possibly in prison] until around 2021,” the spokesperson said. “He was arrested again in August, 2022, for burglary. That was around the same time that he worked for a couple of months at Ms. Hernandez’s building last summer, as part of a post-incarceration work-release program. So, he had previous knowledge of the building.”
Good
I read a few articles about Mackey and they don’t add up. He is a violent felon apparently. However his incarceration years differ depending on a source and his Facebook profile also has posts of him being outside as early as 2019.
Some sources say he used to be a super at her building, others say that he worked at the building temporarily as a participant in post-release program.
So was he a super first and then, after committing a violent crime, was put in the same building? Or was he working as a super during the program? In any case who thought that granting a violent felon an access to the super office is a good idea?!!!
Well, thanks to pressure from the Left, background checks for employment and apartment rentals has been deemed illegal. You reap what you sow
Can West Side Rag incorporate a thumbs down feature? This comment is not an accurate representation of the Fair Chance Law.
Not true…they are NOT illegal however you have to pay for them they are done every day in this city , as are fingerprints unless the company,building,and/ or landlord doesn’t want to pay for them…
Not true, I tried to post a link to the “Fair Chance” law but the commentator did not post it. Not a fan of landlords, but you guys keep blaming the landlord when the city makes crazy legislative rules to protect the bad guys which the UWS supports wholeheartedly until it affects you personally, then you all squawk! Hypocrites!
You are not correct. The law allows for a criminal check after a preliminary offer of employment is made.
Indeed, it does. One of many nonsensical and impractical regulations. Let’s waste time and get everything else done – and only then address the tiny little 25-year gap on the resume. Leaving a huge potential dealbreaker as the last step sounds like “good enough for government work.”
Has it already been done? If yes, it is outrageous!
I live in the building. He was a porter for maybe a month or two while our super was out with a leg injury/surgery over the Summer of 2022. I remember seeing him once or twice during that time. My fellow tenants are FURIOUS that this was allowed and we were not informed about his criminal history.
Unbelievable. No super and a felon with access to the super’s office and possibly the keys to the tenant apartments. Considering that Mackey recruited another criminal, I wonder how many more are aware of this building accessibility.
Unbelievable! I can’t imagine how you feel
The criminals should know that there are always cameras watching and they will not get away with their actions.
The fact that Mackey had already served prison time, and allegedly committed this horrific crime, doesn’t seem as though he was really worried about getting caught on camera or returning to prison a second time.
Repeat offender… If it is legal to hire, then tenants need to be aware. Anyone could have been a victim. If it is enough just to know that this happens, then people need to have locks that only they can use, proof that all the cameras a always in working order, and a regular meeting with all the staff. This is so scary. Get pepper spray and whatever else is legal. He knew his rights. Know your own rights.
I live in this building, SHINDA MANAGEMENT never give us no information about his history they hire their people from a program and don’t inform us who we are interacting with or who we are letting in our apartments. They risk the lives of us to a save dollar or to get a tax write off for using their programs. After this tragic matter, they put some more RANDOM GUYS walking around the building as Sercuity and still yet to put a memo out about as getting Sercuity in the building. But let someone use all four washing machine or throw a bottle down the chute all hell break loose and memo and letters go up about that. SHINDA MANAGEMENT NEED TO GO. If anyone can help us with legal advice please reach out to us at tenants126@yahoo.com
Call the Met council on Housing…they will direct you…it seems to me that Shinda did not do their due diligence and u r correct it behooves them to use not for profits BUT not recklessly as they apparently have.
also all buildings w security cameras should be set up so that the recordings are uploaded to the cloud NOT just stores in a box/dvd etc. this ensures they will be preserved & not stolen as what happened here. again, management co’s need to invest in this not charge tenants!
Third Time trying to post this – why did they target this poor woman and does anyone know how they got into her apartment?
“Building worker.”
Either he announced himself and she let him in, cooperating with the worker., or he used the keys he had access to.
They “recognized” each other, as building workers go!
You can’t trust anyone! An old woman has to contact Dorot or Met Council, just to let a worker inside her apartment. So sad!
Strangling a 78 year old woman for a apartment robbery: so sad
I hope the apartment has changed ALL THE LOCKS in the building. If they have not, and if they persist in not informing tenants about who is working in the building, the tenants should organize a RENT STRIKE. That ought to get management’s attention. Call the city’s housing office and get in touch with a lawyer before you do this!
I was thinking the same thing and knowing the landlord of this building, how cheap they are, of course not, and for the protection of the people who live there they should and if they don’t the building could take them to court because they were responsible for the problems that have occurred. They let that happen!!!! Law enforcement should go after them as well as being part of the whole situation because look who they’re hiring. .!!!
My apartment was robbed when I lived on this block. Not this building, but a few doors down. A weirdly unsafe street. I’m so sorry for the victim and her loved ones.
Congratulations and Great job by the 20Th Precinct the best detectives in the world right here on the Upper West Side!!!!!👏👏👏
We will never see those two knuckleheads again! May they rot in prison!
Now let’s get those knuckleheads that broke into those 8 stores on Columbus Avenue and Amsterdam Avenues on Sunday night.
How about having a post-incarceration work-release program that doesn’t include casing the joint as an option?