(NEW YORK) — A 95-year-old woman is being held at Rikers on charges accusing her of beating her roommate to death at their Brooklyn nursing home.
Galina Smirnova, 95, was arraigned and charged Wednesday with second-degree murder and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the death of 89-year-old Nina Kravtsov, whose family said was born in Ukraine and survived the Holocaust.
Police responded to Seagate Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Coney Island, New York, at around 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, where Kravtsov was allegedly found “lying in her bed, non-responsive, covered in blood, and with gash marks about her face and head,” according to a criminal complaint obtained by ABC News.
Nurses found Smirnova in the bathroom washing blood from her hands in the sink, while Kravtsov was transported to an area hospital, according to the complaint.
Kravtsov sustained fractures to her face and head, and she died early Monday morning due to blunt force trauma, according to the medical examiner’s office.
The murder weapon appeared to be a blood-stained wheelchair foot pedal seen lying on the floor, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office said.
“Family is grieving in every sense of the word. It is my responsibility that justice is served for a woman that survived the Holocaust but could not survive a nursing home is dealt with correctly,” said Randy Zelin, an attorney representing Kravtsov’s family.
Smirnova appeared in court, where she was remanded into custody without bail. She did not enter a plea.
ABC News has reached out to Smirnova’s lawyer and Seagate Rehabilitation and Nursing Center for a comment.
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