A man is facing charges in connection to the death of a New York City woman whose body was found wrapped in a sleeping bag on the street.
Police found the body of 31-year-old Yazmeen Williams next to a pile of trash after they were called to the Kips Bay community of Manhattan about a suspicious package on the curb on Friday, June 5. The body was found in a sleeping bag partially covered by a trash bag.
A medical examiner later revealed that Williams was shot in the head and ruled her death a homicide.
On Monday, authorities arrested 55-year-old Chad Irish, who faces several charges in the case, including concealment of a corpse, criminal possession of a weapon, and menacing. By Wednesday evening, authorities added another charge, murder in the second degree.
The day Irish was arrested, dozens of people, including some of Williams’ family members, made their way to the scene of his arrest. Videos posted online show the scene outside an apartment building erupting into pandemonium as police wheeled Irish out on a stretcher to take him into custody. Irish is reportedly wheelchair-bound.
The crowd surrounded Irish, yelling obscenities and calling him a murderer. Even as authorities worked to shield him, some people got close enough to punch and grab him.
Williams’ mother, Nicole Williams, was even heard shouting at the man, “You killed my daughter! Please kill him!”
Police are still working to determine where Williams’ killing took place. However, investigators are examining a video released by CBS New York on Friday that shows a man in a motorized wheelchair, believed to be Irish, using a dolly to drag a bag outside and leave it on East 27th Street. That’s the location where Williams’ body was discovered.
Williams reportedly has multiple arrests related to drug possession in the past, “nearly two dozen prior arrests, and went to prison twice for robbery and assault in the Bronx,” according to CBS New York.
Community members told police that Williams was friends with a man who uses a wheelchair in the community where she was raised and lived nearby.
Family members and neighbors say Williams was a light in her neighborhood, so many were outraged by her death. She had just started a job with the New York City Housing Authority after graduating from Buffalo State University with a degree in criminal justice. Her mother said she had plans to become a lawyer.
“This is not just somebody that was thrown in the trash. She was a person. She was college-educated. She had a family,” Williams’ aunt, Nisha Ramirez, told The New York Times. “Whoever killed her might think she was someone who didn’t have a family, that no one’s going to look out for her. This is where she grew up. Everybody knows her.”
“Everyone she knew, she meant something to them,” one neighbor said. “She just really loved life. I don’t know who would do this to her.”
“She didn’t deserve that,” Nicole Williams said. “She was a good daughter. She was my best friend.”
