New York City Police were forced to hold back an angry crowd as they arrested a wheelchair-bound man in connection to the murder of a woman whose body was found inside a sleeping bag in Manhattan on July 5.
Video footage showed NYPD officers holding back a crowd of seething bystanders who yelled “murderer” as the suspect was carried from his home on a gurney.
The body of Yazmeen Williams, 31, was found in a sleeping bag that was left out with the trash on E. 27th Street in Manhattan.
According to NYPD, Williams had been shot in the head before being wrapped in a plastic bag and placed in the sleeping bag.
Surveillance footage recovered from the scene showed a man in an electric wheelchair dragging the sleeping bag down the street and dumping it where it was later discovered.
According to Williams’ mother Nicole, the 31-year-old had just started a new job with the city at the beginning of July and was only two weeks away from turning 32.
The suspect was later identified as 55-year-old Chad Irish.
Irish currently faces a charge of concealing a corpse but additional charges are expected.
Sources told CBS New York that Irish has close to two dozen previous arrests, mostly for drug possession, and served time for both robbery and assault. Irish was reportedly on parole at the time of his arrest.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams told reporters after Irish’s arrest that while he wasn’t sure if Irish was the killer, it was “inhumane” to drag “somebody’s daughter” down the block and dump her body with the trash.
Some residents confirmed that Yazmeen Williams was friends with a man in a wheelchair. Others told CBS New York that Williams was staying with Irish at the time she went missing.
A source with the NYPD said Irish allegedly threatened another man with a gun during an argument, so he may also face weapons possession and menacing charges as well.
