Suspect gets dose of street justice after woman's body found wrapped in sleeping bag on street
A New York City parolee who allegedly tossed a young woman's corpse into a pile of street trash was battered by dozens of angry neighbors upon his Monday arrest.
Chad Irish, 55, was charged with concealment of a human corpse after he was questioned by detectives about the death of 31-year-old Yazmeen Williams, the New York Police Department confirmed Tuesday morning. He was also charged with criminal possession of a weapon and menacing, but police said those charges are unrelated to Williams' death.
Williams' body was found stuffed into a sleeping bag on top of a dolly and surrounded by black garbage bags in front of a building on E. 27th Street around 5 p.m. Friday. She was killed by a gunshot wound to the head, according to the New York City Medical Examiner's Office. The dolly was tied to a scaffolding railing by a red strap.
Detectives obtained surveillance video that showed a man in a motorized wheelchair dragging her body to that location. An NYPD spokesperson did not confirm whether that person matched Irish's description.
Several friends told CBS New York that Williams was friends with a man who used a wheelchair in the neighborhood where she grew up and lived nearby.
Williams' family is convinced that the young woman knew her killer, Fox 5 reported.
A "disorderly crowd gathered and became irate" when the wheelchair-bound Irish was arrested and transferred to a gurney around 4 p.m. Monday in the area of E. 27th Street and Second Ave, police said.
He was taken to a hospital and is in stable condition. An investigation is still ongoing, and Irish has not been charged with Williams' killing.
DEAD BODY FOUND WRAPPED IN SLEEPING BAG ON NEW YORK CITY SIDEWALK
Police and EMTs tried to fend off the crowd. Some punched Irish, while others could be heard begging for the crowd to kill him and trying to tear his clothes from his body. The man could be heard pleading his innocence before he was loaded into an ambulance.
Police listed two addresses for Irish – one in the Bronx and another at a New York City Housing Authority development, the Nathan Straus Houses, on East 28th Street, not far from where Williams' body was found.
Irish was on parole for a robbery in the Bronx at the time of his arrest, according to New York Department of Corrections data. He has a laundry list of prior arrests and convictions, including attempted arson, assault and numerous charges of robbery.
A police source told the New York Post that Irish had 21 prior arrests.
Williams' family told CBS that the 31-year-old was about to start a job at the city's Department of Housing Preservation on Monday. That agency could not immediately be reached for comment.
"She was looking so forward to living, living her life," her mother, Nicole Williams, told the outlet. "She got her career in criminal justice. She went to Buffalo State University, and she wanted to be a lawyer."
Williams had a twin brother and younger sister, the outlet reported.
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"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," her younger sister said.