Video shows suspect allegedly dragging Yazmeen Williams' body in bag down Kips Bay street
NEW YORK -- A man has been charged after the body of Yazmeen Williams, 31, was found wrapped in a sleeping bag in New York City's Kips Bay neighborhood.
Her body was found Friday after police responded to a call of a suspicious package on 27th Street between Second and Third avenues. Police say Williams had been shot in the head, and the medical examiner ruled her death a homicide.
Chad Irish charged with concealing Yazmeen Williams' body
Chad Irish, 55, has been charged with concealment of a corpse. More charges may be forthcoming.
Sources tell CBS New York he has nearly two dozen prior arrests, and went to prison twice for robbery and assault in the Bronx. Sources also say he was out on parole, released from prison two years ago. Most of his prior arrests are related to drug possession.
He was mobbed by angry friends and family of Williams as he was taken into custody on Monday afternoon. Police carried Irish out on a gurney as crowds rushed to attack him. Irish's wheelchair and dog were confiscated by police.
Tuesday, members of the NYPD Crime Scene Unit went to collect evidence from Irish's apartment.
Exclusive video shows a man in a motorized wheelchair casually dragging what appears to be the same trash bag that Williams' lifeless body was found inside of, wrapped in a sleeping bag.
"I don't know if this is the actual killer ... But how inhumane. You're dragging down the block somebody's daughter. He should be lucky the police got him before that community," Mayor Eric Adams said.
Several people said Williams was friends with a man who uses a wheelchair in the neighborhood. She grew up there and lived nearby.
There's no word yet on where the killing took place, and police are trying to determine if the murder happened in Irish's apartment.
Police sources say Irish is a prime suspect in the murder.
"Definitely deserving to be in jail and locked up, doesn't deserve to come home or none of that," said Tommy Mena, a friend of the victim.
"You feel like it was him?" CBS New York's Lisa Rozner asked.
"For sure, for sure, definitely ... He was always with her, so it definitely got to be him," Mena said.
"Do you know if they were dating or if she was living there?" Rozner asked.
"Not necessarily, but I know he would bring her home, like, he would, she would go to his house," Mena said. "I just know he could be abusive, though."
Other neighbors told CBS New York the victim had been staying with Irish before she went missing.
Police sources tell CBS New York detectives have surveillance video of Irish dragging a sleeping bag past neighbors out of the Straus Houses.
Neighbor Antowne Frazier says he was suspicious of Irish even before police arrested him.
"I asked him. I turned around and say, 'Yo, what did you do to that young girl?'" Frazier said.
Frazier said when confronted about the sleeping bag, he claims Irish told him it was full of dirty laundry.
Police sources add that on Monday, before his arrest, Irish allegedly menaced a man with a gun during an argument, so he faces menacing and weapon possession charges in that case, too.
"I argued with him, he brandished a gun, one of my friends maced him, ran off, and me and him stayed arguing while he showed the gun. He pulled it up from under his seat," Frazier said. "He came back to the park around 3:30, 4 o'clock brandished the gun so I thought he was trying to make good on his threat to me, so I called the police chased him down. Everybody around the block followed. That's how they caught him."
Loved ones remember Yazmeen Williams
Williams' family and friends had gathered Monday near the scene where her body was discovered. A makeshift memorial has been set up there.
Yazmeen's mother Nicole Williams said her daughter was looking forward to her future; she had been set to start a new job with the city's Department of Housing Preservation on Monday.
"She was looking so forward to living, living her life," Nicole Williams said. "She got her degree in criminal justice. She went to Buffalo State University, and she wanted to go back to be a lawyer."
Yazmeen Williams had a twin brother and a younger sister.
"She used to always take good care of me, and she used to always be proud of me. She was the best sister I could have, and I love her so much. I just wish she could've stayed a little longer because I just wanted to grow up with her," Yazmeen's little sister said.
"Yazmeen was really a caring person. She was energetic. She knew people around the neighborhood, so she was very loving, so it's pretty sad," Mena said.