A 63-year-old woman was found dead in Central Park on Sunday morning, and by that night police had arrested a man and charged him with her murder.
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Officers responded to a 911 call of an unconscious person near East Drive and East 74th Street at about 9:43 a.m. on Sunday, September 27, according to the police report. They found the woman unconscious and unresponsive with trauma to the head, and EMS pronounced her dead at the scene. Her identity is being withheld pending family notification.Police arrested Jonathan Robles, 36, at 9 p.m. Sunday and charged him with murder and criminal possession of a weapon, according to the police report, which lists his address as 330 West 36th Street. ABC7 reported that authorities said Robles is a resident of the Barbour Hotel, a Midtown homeless shelter, and that he surrendered to detectives and was being evaluated at a hospital ahead of an expected arraignment.
The woman appeared to have been living in the park, according to ABC7, which reported that she was found barefoot and covered in dirt, and that investigators believe she was struck in the head with a stick. The outlet also reported that authorities called it the park’s first homicide in years. Officials said the woman didn’t have identification, NBC New York reported, adding that police retracted an earlier statement that she’d been stabbed.
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CBS New York reported that she was found at a gazebo near East Drive and 74th Street, and spoke with Moses Diaz, a man in the park who said he knew the woman and that she’d often stay in the gazebo. “She was a sweet woman,” Diaz told the station. Police said a motive isn’t yet clear, according to CBS, and the medical examiner will determine the cause of death.The investigation remains ongoing, according to the police report.
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