“I’m going to shoot you!” Chad Irish yelled at Yazmeen Williams in the hallway outside her Manhattan public housing (NYCHA) apartment on June 26, a threat that was recorded on a surveillance camera, Deputy District Attorney Tricia Phillips told Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Michelle Weber during a brief arraignment Thursday.
Irish (55) has been accused of killing his roommate Williams (31) and dumping her shot body in a trash can inside a sleeping bag in Midtown East, where she was found on July 5, days before the woman started working at the city’s Housing Preservation and Development Department (HPD) this week.
The suspect, who has an extensive police record and was currently on parole for a robbery in the Bronx (NYC), was arrested Monday afternoon at his “Straus Houses” building in Midtown East, hours after a person called 911 to report that he had threatened him by showing a gun in the middle of an argument about Williams.
Irish has now been charged with murder, concealment of a human corpse and weapons possession. If convicted, he faces life in prison “on more than one count,” prosecutor Phillips said. “Although there were no witnesses to the shooting, the circumstantial evidence in this case, including video surveillance, makes it a strong case,” she told the judge, the court reported. Daily News.
Detectives believe Irish killed Williams during a dispute over drugs. Surveillance video captured him dragging the body in a bag as he rode down the street near his home in a motorized wheelchair about 5:15 a.m. July 5, police said. But he has denied any involvement in the crime. Judge Weber ordered him held without bail while the case continues. His Legal Aid attorney did not oppose the pretrial detention order, but asked the judge to place Irish in protective custody and receive medical care.
The same camera that captured Irish’s threat recorded Williams leaving the apartment to throw trash into the chute on June 30. The woman went back inside and did not come out again. Detectives believe Irish shot Williams to death inside the apartment on July 1 and kept her body there for several days until dumping it on East 27th St. near 3rd Av.
A friend visited Irish’s apartment on July 1 but did not see Williams. Irish did not allow the visitor into the bedroom she occupied, prosecutors said.
Early in the morning on July 2, the camera recorded another woman repeatedly knocking on Irish’s apartment door. The visitor appeared to be carrying cleaning and paper towels, presumably so the tenant could clean up Williams’ spilled blood. The woman handed the items to Irish and left, never entering the apartment, according to the NYPD.
Early on Monday, July 8, neighbors began to suspect Irish had something to do with Williams’ disappearance and confronted him in a park across from his building, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said. “Several people in the neighborhood were quite upset with Mr. Irish over this incident and surrounded him and he pulled out a gun and threatened them. He then fled the scene back to his apartment, where he was arrested by detectives.”
As police responded and questioned Irish on Monday, the angry crowd gathered outside the building again, accusing him of having something to do with Williams’ death. The situation became more tense when he was seen being taken into custody by the NYPD in an ambulance.
“He should be lucky that the police caught him before that community did,” Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday at a news conference at City Hall. “The criminal justice system should provide justice and closure to the family. When your family goes through something as horrible as this, it really hits home for us.”
All charges are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Domestic violence is a constant in New York City and surrounding areas, between relatives, roommates and partners, even with victims who are minors. Every day in NYC, an average of 747 incidents of domestic violence are reported – including assault, abuse, verbal abuse – and about 65 homicides annually.
If you are a victim or suspect that someone is being abused, especially if you are a minor or an elderly person:
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- Call 911, 988 or (800)-942-6906.
- Text “WELL” to 65173.
- Check information at https://nycwell.cityofnewyork.us/es/ and www.988lineadevida.org