Left inset: Robert Strother (NYPD). Right inset: Princesa Encarnacion-Soto (News 12/YouTube). Background: The Bronx apartment where Robert Strother allegedly held Princesa Encarnacion-Soto hostage and killed her last month (WABC/YouTube).
A New York City man has been arrested for allegedly teaming up with his mother to murder his girlfriend, reportedly tying the 21-year-old victim up on a bed and torturing her.
“The wounds … were inflicted for pain, not to kill,” said NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny at a media briefing last month. The briefing came after Robert Strother, 27, allegedly killed Princesa Encarnacion-Soto inside of his mother”s Bronx apartment in the 2200 block of Grand Concourse and left her battered body for police to find on a staircase.
“There are slice marks on her thighs, slice marks on her upper arms and shoulders,” Kenny told reporters, according to The CW affiliate WPIX. “The ones on her legs were fresh,” he said. “There was no blood on [the victim]. There was no blood on her as she lay on the staircase, and she was in fresh clothing that had no blood on it. So, it’s a possibility that someone cleaned the body, put fresh clothes on her, and threw her down a flight of stairs.”
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An NYPD spokesperson confirmed to Law&Crime on Wednesday that Strother — who fled the scene following Encarnacion-Soto’s death on July 22 — was arrested last Saturday after a weeklong manhunt. His mother, Naida Jorge, was taken into custody at the scene and given the same charges Strother is now facing: murder, manslaughter, hindering prosecution, concealment of a human corpse, and tampering with physical evidence.
Police say they found Encarnacion-Soto while responding to a 911 call of an assault in progress inside the couple’s apartment building.
“Upon arrival, officers observed an unidentified female unconscious and unresponsive with multiple stab wounds to the body,” the NYPD reported in a statement, which was provided to Law&Crime on Wednesday. “EMS responded and transported the aided female to BronxCare Health System, where she was pronounced deceased.”
Police say Encarnacion-Soto was missing “a piece of a knuckle on her finger” and had cuts underneath her feet when they found her, according to court papers obtained by the New York Daily News. She was allegedly stabbed and hit with a hammer multiple times.
Jorge, 54, is accused of helping Strother during and after Encarnacion-Soto’s murder, with police saying she allowed him to kill the victim inside of Jorge’s apartment and then cleaned up the crime scene with him. Jorge also allegedly hindered efforts to catch Strother, according to NYPD officials.
Kenny told reporters last month that Encarnacion-Soto was living in Rhode Island before she moved to New York on July 11 and started living with Jorge and Strother, who has more than 20 arrests for domestic violence on his record filed by other women.
“My heart is broken,” said Encarnacion-Soto’s mother last weekend, speaking to local NBC affiliate WNBC. “My little baby, my little everything is gone.”
