Police have arrested a 35-year-old home health aide who allegedly murdered a 67-year-old woman she had been hired to help. Investigators believe that suspect Yamilette Hidalgo killed Maria Torres inside her Sunset Park apartment—then lied to cops about a push-in robbery.
Cops arrived at the 50th Street residence yesterday after neighbors heard Hidalgo shouting. "[The home attendant] was really cut up, bleeding and screaming erratically on the phone," neighbor Andrew Rosado told the Daily News. The home health aide—who sustained bruises and cuts to the face—claimed a man had forced his way into the apartment and knocked her unconscious in a robbery. She told officers that when she awoke, Torres was dead. Investigators found the victim's nude body in the bathroom with a wound to the head.
According to ABC, detectives were skeptical of Hidalgo's story. They obtained surveillance footage from a camera in the lobby before charging her with murder. She is expected to be arraigned today, as medical examiners perform an autopsy on Torres to determine the cause of death. Neighbors said that Torres and Hidalgo were involved in an "ongoing dispute," and said the victim was "quiet, very nice, gets along with everybody."
