A homeless advocate whose body was found wrapped in a sleeping bag inside a trash bag was in a relationship with the man who killed her.
Chad Irish, who is wheelchair-bound, is accused of shooting Yazmeen Williams, 31, and dumping her body in a trash bag on a sidewalk in Kips Bay on Friday. She had been shot in the head.
Viral video shows a mob attacking Irish, 55, as he was on a gurney on Monday.
Medics and police tried to hold the angry mob back, but some men landed punches as Irish was loaded into an ambulance. Irish’s wheelchair and dog were removed from his apartment by police.
“Several people from the neighborhood were quite angry with Mr. Irish over this incident and they surrounded him and he produced a pistol and menaced them,” NYPD Chief of Detective Joseph Kenny said on Tuesday. “He then fled the location back to his apartment, where he was placed under arrest by detectives and patrol.”
New Yorkers almost get street justice after a man in a wheelchair was arrested for killing 31 year old NYC homeless activist Yazmeen Williams
Her body was found wrapped in a sleeping bag on a sidewalk. pic.twitter.com/QXof72hXXj
— FearBuck (@FearedBuck) July 9, 2024
The NYPD released surveillance video that shows Irish in a motorized wheelchair dragging Williams’ body down a street. Evidence collected from Irish’s apartment shows that a black trash bag that the sleeping bag was wrapped in came from his apartment.
EXCLUSIVE:
Security video shows a man in a motorized wheelchair dragging what appears to be the same sleeping bag 31 yr old Yazmeen Williams' body was found in@CBSNewYork pic.twitter.com/LVVblnFAdy— Alice Gainer (@GainerTV) July 9, 2024
Officials are still investigating whether Irish is the killer.
“I don’t know if this is the actual killer … But how inhumane. You’re dragging down the block somebody’s daughter. He should be lucky the police got him before that community,” Mayor Eric Adams said at a press conference.
“Do you know if they were dating or if she was living there?” CBS New York’s Lisa Rozner asked a friend of Williams.
“Not necessarily, but I know he would bring her home, like, he would, she would go to his house,” the friend said. “I just know he could be abusive, though.”
“Yazmeen was really a caring person. She was energetic. She knew people around the neighborhood, so she was very loving, so it’s pretty sad,” he added.
Other neighbors told CBS New York that Williams had been staying with Irish before she went missing.
The news of Williams’ death quickly spread through the neighborhood.
A neighbor says he was suspicious of Irish even before police arrested him. He confronted Irish when he saw him dragging the trash bag behind his wheelchair.
The neighbor said Irish told him the trash bag was full of dirty laundry.
Sources tell CBS New York Irish has nearly two dozen prior arrests, and went to prison twice for robbery and assault in the Bronx.
Irish is charged with concealment of a corpse. Murder charges are pending. He is being held in jail without bond.
