Man Charged With Stabbing, Killing 69-Year-Old Bronx Woman
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A man was arrested and charged Wednesday in the October stabbing death of a 69-year-old grandmother in the Bronx back in October.
Nakia Bent, 36, of Kearny, New Jersey, was charged with second-degree murder in the slaying of Lilawatee Ramsaran, 69, police said.
Ramsaran, who was known Lila for short, was found unconscious and unresponsive at a home on Cranford Avenue in the Wakefield section of the Bronx at around 9:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 9, according to police.
Ramsaran was found by members of the FDNY who responded to a call for an odor of gas in her apartment. They had forced their way into the residence and they found Ramsaran's body face down.
Police say Ramsaran was stabbed several times in the back. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
In discovering Ramsaran's body, the FDNY also found that her stove had been tampered with and gas was seeping from it. Candles were lit inside the apartment. Police believe the candles were lit and the stove was tampered with to intentionally cause a fire to cover up a crime.
The FDNY got to the house just in time so it could not catch fire.
Ramsaran reportedly owned the house and lived alone in a basement apartment and rented the two upper floors of the home. Family members said Ramsaran rented rooms to the tenants because she traveled back and forth to Trinidad.
Family members said Ramsaran had a business degree, but had been retired for a long time. She worked for 30 years for watchmaker Baume & Mercier directing their customer service division, CBS2 has learned.