Family Of Astoria Murder Victim Danielle Thomas Breaks Silence On Accused Killer Boyfriend
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The heartbroken family of a woman found brutally murdered in a Queens apartment spoke out Monday. The victim's boyfriend was arrested on Friday and charged in her killing.
"I asked 'is Danielle okay?' And he said, 'No, ma'am. I'm sorry. She's not,'" Jamie Thomas Bright said.
The call was a mother's worst nightmare. Authorities told her mother that her daughter, Danielle Thomas, was dead.
"I was in a state of shock," Thomas Bright said.
The University of Florida graduate had moved to New York, where she lived with boyfriend, Jason Bohn, and worked for Weight Watchers. However, on Tuesday her beaten and bruised body was discovered on ice in a bathtub in her Astoria apartment building on 33rd Street. Her boyfriend, a suspect from the beginning, is now charged with her murder. Danielle's grandmother said Danielle was her only grandchild.
"I loved her so and she knew it," Juanita Hardgrove said.
Bohn, a lawyer, was arrested Friday at a diner in White Plains after a four-day manhunt. He was sitting with his mother and his lawyer. Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said Bohn allegedly left two notes at the crime scene, one saying "It was an accident, it was an accident, it was an accident...I had been drinking and I was drunk when I got home. She was already asleep...I woke up and there was fighting between us. When I woke up again she was unconscious. I am sorry." The second note said, "Dani, I will love you forever."
However, earlier this month when Thomas went to police with black eyes and on crutches Bohn had different words. Officers overhead him threaten Thomas, saying "It's war. I will dedicate my life to hunting you down like a dog in the streets. I am going to make your life impossible."
Neighbors in the Astoria apartment said they often heard Thomas screaming for help.
"Screaming, yelling 'Help! He's going to kill me! Help!" one resident said.
Thomas had an order of protection in place when she was murdered, police said. No one knows why she returned to the apartment building. Meanwhile, the 27-year-old's family is struggling to cope and is searching for meaning in their devastating loss.
"I do feel that something good will come from this and I know that God has everything happen for a reason," Hardgrove said.
District Attorney Brown said after Bohn allegedly murdered Thomas he called police and told them an unconscious female was in his apartment but then fled the scene. He added the 33-year-old is on suicide watch. If convicted, he faces 25 years to life.
Please offer your thoughts in the comments section below ...
