MANHATTAN, NEW YORK: Jackie Billini, 57, and an unidentified man were shot dead while walking her dog on Friday evening in Upper Manhattan.
Earlier, Billini underwent a vicious attack as part of a home invasion in April, and her family believe that the man involved could be behind her murder, per Daily Mail.
How did Jackie Billini die?
Per the New York Daily News, the court analyst at NYS Unified Court System in the Bronx, Jackie Billini, was out on the evening of Friday, September 29 walking her dog with a man.
The pair were shot dead in their heads on 165th Street and Edgecombe Avenue in Washington Heights outside Highbridge Park at about 6:30 pm. The dog, which was a pit bull, was also slain during the assault.
The two victims were taken to the Harlem Hospital where they were declared dead. The lifeless body of the dog was left on the sidewalk.
Police also found at least eight shell casings surrounding the dog’s body. Police further said that the family members of Billini identified her as the victim while adding the suspect fled by foot.
No arrest has been made as of yet.
An onlooker, Nelson Abreu, 70, described the horrific scene to Daily News, “[There were] a lot of shots, and then people were running that way. It was a man and a woman who were shot.”
An officer said, “It was brutal. That was a message. Did he have to shoot the dog too?”
Someone else commented, “Damn. It was a beautiful animal.”
Jackie Billini’s family said she was attacked in April
The fatal attack on the mother came after a horrific home invasion by an assaulter yielding a hammer in April. Billini, one of her daughters and her daughter’s boyfriend were attacked by the assailant.
The assailant forcefully tried to enter her home, and while doing so broke Billini’s arm and injured her daughter and her daughter’s boyfriend.
The 32-year-old man was charged with burglary, assault with a weapon with intent to injury by a Manhattan grand jury. Billini’s 35-year-old daughter Iliana told the news outlet about the incident in April, “He broke her arm by kicking in her door.”
Billini’s family believe the same man is involved in the murder as her nephew Luis Billini, 44, said, “He should have been locked up, but they let him go.”
