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KIPS BAY, Manhattan (PIX11) --- The man accused of killing a woman and leaving her body in a bag on a Manhattan street allegedly threatened to shoot her about a week before her body was found, prosecutors said.
Chad Irish, 55, was arraigned on murder and criminal possession of a weapon charges in a Manhattan court on Thursday, authorities said. He is being held without bail.
Irish is accused of killing 31-year-old Yazmeen Williams after her body was found wrapped inside a sleeping bag on East 27th Street in Kips Bay on July 5. She died of a gunshot wound to the head, police said.
"I'll shoot you," Irish allegedly told the woman during an argument in the hallway of their apartment in the Straus Houses on East 28th Street at around 8:10 p.m. on June 26, according to the criminal complaint.
Williams was last seen in surveillance video taking a trash bag to the garbage chute in the building four days after the fight before disappearing, prosecutors said.
On July 1, an unidentified woman dropped off a bag with a large soft item and cleaning wipes at the defendant's apartment at around 1:40 a.m.
"It's me," the woman said before Irish, seated in a motorized wheelchair, allegedly opened the door and took the bag, according to the complaint.
Prosecutors said Irish was spotted leaving his apartment with a blue sleeping bag on a dolly and getting on to the elevator at around 5:15 a.m. on July 5. The defendant was caught on surveillance video riding a wheelchair while allegedly hauling Williams’ body to the spot on East 27th Street where she was found dead, according to the court records.
Irish then went back to his apartment in the Straus Houses, authorities said.
Irish was arrested in his building on Monday for concealment of a human corpse before the charges were upgraded to murder on Wednesday.
“It’s evil, just evil,” the victim’s cousin told PIX11 News on Monday. “She’s not trash.”
People from the community confronted Irish outside the Straus Houses earlier in the day before his arrest, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.
Irish got into arguments with people in two separate incidents that day outside the Straus Houses, police said. In both incidents, Irish allegedly threatened the people with a gun, according to police.
“Several people from the neighborhood were quite angry with Mr. Irish over [Williams’ death] and they surrounded him,” Kenny said. “He produced a pistol and menaced them. He then fled the location back to his apartment where he was placed under arrest by detectives and patrol.”
Irish was charged with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and two counts of menacing for both incidents, police said. The defendant was also arraigned in the menacing case on Thursday.
"All I know is I didn't do anything," Irish said as police took him to court Wednesday evening.
Williams was college-educated and had a twin brother and an 8-year-old sister, according to her family. She was about to begin a new job at the NYCHA.
“It’s just heartbreaking,” the cousin said.
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