Man strangled cousin, tied up body then texted her son, 14, pretending to be her
A man was sentenced to death for killing his cousin, concealing her body for days, stealing her money and using her New York apartment as a cover while impersonating her.
Khalid Barrow, 23, was found guilty of killing his cousin Nisaa Walcott, 35, and was sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison. The victim's son Omir Walcott, who was 14 at the time, criticised the murderer.
“My whole family is destroyed,” said in a tearful victim impact statement,. “It’s been trauma after trauma. “It’s like it’s digging at my skin like someone’s nails just scratching.”
Laura Ward, the acting justice of the Supreme Court, said: “It’s one of the saddest cases that I have ever presided over in that the defendant, in this case, had a family that was willing to be there for him all the time — and he clearly took advantage of that family.
“What Khalid Barrow did to his cousin after her death was reprehensible. His actions indicated a callous disregard for not only the victim in this case but for the entire family.”
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Khalid Barrow, 23, was found guilty and sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison (New York City Police Department)
Barrow texted the teenage son of Nisaa Walcott (pictured) while pretending to be her (Facebook)Adam Freedman, Barrow's attorney, stated that his client skipped court "because he, frankly, couldn't face the extended family." Barrow was convicted last month of second-degree murder, fourth-degree grand larceny, concealing a human corpse, and fourth-degree illegal possession of stolen property.
“The defendant’s criminal conduct was an unspeakable betrayal,” said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. “Khalid Barrow strangled his cousin in her own home, all for his own financial gain. I am amazed by the resiliency of Nisaa Walcott’s family members, who have persevered through the horrific murder of their loved one by her own cousin. They attended the trial every single day, listening to incredibly disturbing testimony. No sentence can undo this family’s pain, but I hope they continue to heal from this terrible loss.”
Prosecutors stated that Barrow asphyxiated Walcott in her East Harlem apartment, bound her ankles with a Wi-Fi cord, concealed her body in a plastic tub filled with leftover fabric, and stashed the tub in a storage room before thoroughly cleaning the flat with bleach.
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He started pretending to be her right away, according to the authorities, texting her 14-year-old son from her phone, tricking him by requesting the PIN for her EBT account and urging him to leave the door unlocked. Prosecutors claimed that he also texted her coworkers and other relatives using her false identity.
On February 18, 2022, he relocated the plastic tub containing her body to her apartment's roof while using her credit cards and accounts to buy food, drinks, and marijuana after failing to get a car to transport her body upstate, according to a news release.
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