Bronx woman, 59, charged with fatally shooting 24-year-old man near her building
A Bronx woman is facing murder and other charges for fatally shooting a 24-year-old man outside an apartment building in the borough Sunday night, police said.
NYPD officers arrested 59-year-old Denise Aponte on Monday morning, charging her with murder, manslaughter and criminal weapons possession in connection with the killing of Randy Blanche in Morris Heights. First responders found Blanche on the sidewalk at 160 West 174th St. with multiple gunshot wounds to his head around 8 p.m. Sunday. He was later pronounced dead at BronxCare Hospital.
Police said they are looking into whether Aponte and Blanche knew each other. She lives in a building on Popham Avenue across the street from the crime scene, while Blanche lived more than a mile away in Tremont, according to the NYPD.
Aponte’s arraignment in Bronx Criminal Court was pending early Tuesday, and information for her lawyer was not immediately available.
Blanche is at least the fourth person to die from gun violence in the 46th Precinct this year, which includes Morris Heights, Fordham, University Heights and Mount Hope, according to Gothamist’s tracking of NYPD reports.
This is a developing story based on preliminary information from police and may be updated.
For more information about gun violence in New York City, check out Gothamist’s map of shooting incidents over the last five years.
