A man suffocated his 92-year-old roommate by holding a pillow to her face after becoming annoyed by her snoring.
Enrique Leyva, 47, had been a live-in caretaker for Veronica Ivins moving in after her 50-year-old daughter died of cancer.
He called 911 after murdering her and when he was arrested said ‘I killed my roommate’, a police source to the New York Post.
Veronica Ivins was found semi-conscious when police arrived at her SoHo apartment after being called by her roommate Enrique Leyva
Leyva leaving a a police station in New York. He has now been charged with murdering Ivins
The 47-year-old Leyva became noticeably more disheveled recently, neighbors said, and seemed to be turning into a ‘zombie’
Ivins had lived in her apartment on Sullivan Street for 50 years but recently the previously tidy property had become filthy and there were loud arguments with Leyva, neighbors said.
As the elderly woman slept, he killed her around midnight on Thursday and called 911 later that day around 6.30pm.
When police officers, they found her lying on her bed semi-conscious and was taken to New York Presbyterian hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
‘He placed a pillow over her face and then placed his hands around her neck,’ a police source told The Post.
Leyva was taken to the First Precinct, where he was charged with murder Thursday afternoon.
Brooklyn Lastra said Leyva ‘weaseled’ his way into Ivins home after her daughter died of cancer
Neighbors said Leyva moved in with Ivins a few months ago after her daughter died of cancer at age 50.
One neighbor Brooklyn Lastra told Fox6: ‘It seemed he kind of weaseled his way into the apartment because she had no one else and didn’t want to be alone.
‘When the daughter passed, unfortunately, he stayed — permanently. We would hear fighting, breaking furniture, glass, screaming back and forth
Leyva’s appearance changed visibly over his time as Ivin’s roommate and he stopped shaving and let his hair grow long.
‘He seemed to be turning into a zombie. He was deteriorating visibly. It was obvious. He ended up just snapping.’
Another neighbor, Anthony Iannacone told the New York Daily News he dated Leyva for six years before he moved in with Ivins.
‘Lately he’s become a totally different person,’ Iannacone, 54, said.
‘He took medication for depression. But he stopped taking it. I’m shocked. He treated me very good. I never expected him to do anything like this.’