Suspect Charged Months After Stray Bullet Kills Woman, 61, In Harlem
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A suspect was arrested and charged Tuesday, eight months after a 61-year-old woman was struck and killed by a stray bullet in Harlem.
Odessa Simms was struck in the neck by a stray bullet on the night of Saturday, Aug. 20 of last year at 144th Street and Lenox Avenue.
Abraham Vah, 25, of Queens, was charged with murder, criminal use of a firearm, and criminal possession of a weapon in the case, police said.
Investigators said just before midnight on Aug. 20, Simms was sitting on a bench watching a card game when the bullet struck her.
Simms' friend, Rudy Alberts, said in August that Simms would often come to the area where she was shot to unwind. For her to lose her life there in such a senseless way makes it all the more difficult for loved ones to accept, CBS2's Janelle Burrell reported at the time.
"For somebody to shoot because you're mad at somebody else -- oh, no," he said. "She don't bother nobody. She sits down here plays dominoes."
Simms left behind several children and grandchildren.