The carer of a 100-year-old man has been charged with his murder after allegedly attacking him with a hammer weeks after he let her go owing to concerns about coronavirus.
Gerald Early, a Second World War veteran, had employed Brenda McKay since May 2019 to help him around the house in Corning, New York.
When the coronavirus pandemic started spreading Early, with the help of his three children and six grandchildren, made the decision to let McKay go.
The family wanted to protect Early from any possible risk of infection.
Gerald Early, pictured with his family celebrating his 100th birthday in March. On Saturday he was found dead and his former carer Brenda McKay charged with his murder
On Saturday, according to police, McKay attacked her former employer.
‘There was a great amount of evidence that was collected,’ said Jeff Spaulding, Corning police chief.
‘Not only did we have a crime scene where Mr Early’s murder occurred at his residence, we also had a separate crime scene – that being Ms McKay’s around the corner at Walnut Street.’
Spaulding said that McKay did not have any prior convictions but ‘was well known by the Corning police’.
He said that, over an approximately 20-year period, police had 20 encounters with her regarding issues with neighbors including verbal confrontations.
‘She wasn’t a certified caretaker, she didn’t relate or help him with medical type conditions or anything like that,’ he said.
An autopsy on Tuesday confirmed blunt force trauma as the cause of death.
Brenda McKay, 51, worked for Early for almost a year as a cleaner and assistant. He let her go in April amid concern at the coronavirus pandemic. She has been held in jail without bail
McKay is believed to have acted alone and is cooperating with authorities.
Spaulding refused to speculate on a motive, and added that investigators have no reason to believe McKay was under the influence of any type of substances.
Early served in the Merchant Marine from April 1942 until the mid-1950s, scuttling the ship Courageous on D-Day to make a sea barrier on the beaches of Normandy.
Well known in the community, he told local newspaper The Leader that Memorial Day was particularly special to him.
‘The day just makes me think about all the events and experiences I had in World War Two,’ Early said.
‘A lot to remember.’
Early’s photo of the Courageous, which was scuttled on D-Day to make a breakwall in France
Early is remembered for his ‘elephant memory, contagious laugh, and words of wisdom’
Early had lived in Corning since 1956, his daughter Jocelyn Niebur said.
She said he opened the first coin-operated laundry in Steuben County, the Red Arrow, and managed multiple properties as a landlord until the age of 97.
Niebur said he loved sailing on Seneca Lake and being a member of the Corning Lions – a club he was part of for more than 50 years.
He was also a member of The First Baptist Church of Corning.
Early, born in Astoria, Queens, was married to Gertrude for 54 years. She died in 2005.
Early’s 100th birthday, in March, was marked by his local paper.
‘I am overwhelmed with my good fortune,’ he said.
His family paid tribute to his energy and intellect in his obituary.
‘He will be remembered for his elephant memory, contagious laugh, and words of wisdom,’ they said.