Brooklyn woman found stabbed dead in apartment doorway days after celebrating 58th birthday with family
The heartbroken family of a Brooklyn mother of two, after celebrating her birthday this past weekend, was left to plan for her funeral.
The death of Latanya Parker, 58, was ruled a homicide Wednesday, one day after she was found dead dead in the doorway of her Brooklyn apartment with blood coming out of her mouth, police said.
“I heard her daughter screaming,” recounted next-door neighbor Mary Thompson, 72. “She said, ‘My mom is dead!’ I was shocked ... Whoever did this has to be punished. The Bible said thou shall not kill.”
The victim was stabbed and slashed in the chest and suffered a deep puncture wound to the waist, police said. The NYPD had no motive yet in the killing as the hunt for a suspect continued, and autopsy results were expected Wednesday from the city Medical Examiner.
Neighbor Tawany Smalls, 52, recalled family members gathering this past Saturday to celebrate the victim’s birthday. The older daughter returned to the home after calls to the victim’s cellphone rang unanswered, she said.
“They figured maybe she lost her phone so the older daughter came to check in and that’s when she found her,” said Smalls. “I would never think of anyone who would attack her. That would be the last thing I think.”
The victim was mother to a 12-year-old girl and the older daughter who found her body in the doorway, according to neighbors. Cops were called to the victim’s Fulton St. apartment building in Bedford-Stuyvesant about 3:15 p.m. Tuesday.
She had blood coming from her mouth and there was blood on her hands and around her body, police sources said. The younger child was apparently staying with her grandmother after the killing of her mom, a neighbor said.
“We would always say hello to each other,” said Thompson, a nine-year building resident. “I saw her take her kid to school ... The little girl is so sweet. I’m shook up, I’m nervous, I’m shocked. I’m very much afraid because I don’t know what happened.”
Smalls recalled hearing the elder daughter yelling and crying in the hallway before coming outside to hear the grim story.
“You hear about it on the news but if it’s someone you know and close to you and then it happens, you’re just like ‘What?’” said Smalls. “She was doing real good, raising her kids. She overcame a lot of obstacles in her life and for this to happen, it’s sad.”
