A 22-year-old transgender woman has been charged with the murder of their father, after they stabbed him to death in the family's Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, home. Nikki Secondino was charged with murder as well as other felonies after police initially believed that her dad, Carlo Secondino, had been stabbed to death during an early morning house invasion at their home.
Nikki has also been charged with attempted murder and criminal possession of a firearm in connection with the assault, which left their 19-year-old sister in serious condition at Maimonides Hospital. Earlier on Thursday, sources told that Nikki was suspected of fabricating the burglary story in order to hide her own brutal crime.
Killed in Cold Blood
Police too had initially believed that Carlo had died during a burglary but it was later revealed that Nikki made up the entire story in an attempt to cover up their involvement in the crime. Nikki smirked and shrugged off questions as cops escorted her from Brooklyn's 62nd Precinct on Thursday night.
A neighbor of the Secondinos also claimed to have overheard Nikki talking on the phone shortly after the stabbing, in which she made the accusation that the family had been robbed by intruders who also stabbed them.
According to the New York Daily News, Carlo was pronounced dead at the scene, and his daughter was taken to Maimonides Medical Center just a few days before turning 20.
According to police, two male thieves entered the house on 17th Avenue around 6 am and demanded money from a safe before attacking the three members of the family and running off on foot.
Police now, however, think Nikki was the perpetrator of the assault.
Nikki Secondino was hospitalized in stable condition after sustaining slash wounds to the hands.
Motive Not Clear
The motive behind the murder of her father and the attempted murder of her sister is still unclear as police continue their investigation. Nikki is transgender — something her dad supported, said the father's employer Yadira Gomez, who co-owns Mike's Diner where Carlo worked as a deliveryman.
"I heard like wrestling, fighting," said one of the neighbors of the Secondinos.
"I did hear the father. He pleaded to me 'Please call the cops!' ... The front of his chest right there, it was saturated in red like he was wearing a red vest," said the neighbor to the New York Daily News.
ANotehr woman recalled how Nikki pounded on her door to enter.
"''Oh my god! Oh my god! Open up the door!'" she recalled her screaming. "I saw the blood in the hallway so I immediately closed my door and I didn't want to get involved."
"He was just like lying there. His head was facing toward the window, the kitchen window. He was face up lying on his back," the neighbor recalled.
"Every time when they argue there was banging. Because the walls are just sheetrock, I would hear everything."
According to police, the idea of a heist gone awry was contracting as the window inside the house appeared to have been broken from the inside. Additionally, there were no indications that the flat had been forced open, and there was no video evidence to back up the claim of a home invasion.
Moreover, neither a sizable sum of money nor any drugs were discovered at the murder site, and Nikki had cuts on her hand that were consistent with a knife slipping while being used.
The victims of the crime also had no criminal records. As a result of such findings, Nikki became a suspect in the case.
