NEW YORK CITY (TCN) — A 41-year-old man has been arrested and charged with multiple counts in connection with the alleged fatal beating of a woman in front of her young daughter.
On Sept. 6, police arrived at a Manhattan apartment to conduct a welfare check, WPIX reports. A 7-year-old girl answered the door, and responding officers found the child’s mother, Lovay Williams, deceased. Prosecutors allege she was beaten to death the day before by Tiliek Thompson, her ex-boyfriend.
The child reportedly slept next to her mother’s body all night and did not realize she was dead, the New York Daily News reports.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by WPIX, Thompson and Williams had been in a relationship for approximately a year. Surveillance footage allegedly captured him going in and out of the apartment building shortly before police found Williams’ body.
The child reportedly witnessed the alleged killing and told detectives in her interview she saw Thompson try to clean up the scene. She alleged she watched Thompson placed Williams into a bathtub, clean up the house, and then place Williams back in bed and under blankets. According to the New York Daily News, the child did not understand what was happening.
Thompson allegedly turned himself in on Sept. 12 and was arraigned on charges of murder, assault, strangulation, and endangering the welfare of a child, according to WPIX. He pleaded not guilty.
NuQuan Williams, the victim’s father, told the New York Daily News, “He’s the devil. … Anytime you put your hands on a woman, you’re a piece of garbage. … For him to do that in front of my granddaughter, I’m just at a loss of words.”
According to Williams’ brother, Williams was “very attentive to her child. Best mom in the world,” WABC reports.
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