A person cops and prosecutors say preys on homeless girls and intercourse employees has been arrested for beating and strangling a 54-year-old homeless girl earlier than leaving her lifeless physique below an East Harlem overpass, police mentioned Friday.
Audoine Amazan, 38, was remanded to custody on second-degree homicide costs for killing Shivonne Thompson on July 1, officers mentioned. Thompson, 54, was discovered lifeless below an overpass to the Harlem River Drive at E. one hundred and thirty fifth St. and Park Ave., police mentioned
Amazan’s alleged assault on Thompson might not have been an remoted incident, Manhattan District Lawyer Danielle Turcotte mentioned at his arraignment.
The homicide suspect moved to the U.S. from Haiti a few 12 months in the past. In November 2024, a homeless girl confirmed up at Harlem Hospital claiming that she was overwhelmed and sexually assaulted.
Whereas she couldn’t talk the small print, detectives examined her clothes for DNA, which has now been linked to Amazan, Turcotte mentioned.
His DNA was additionally linked to a case during which a homeless girl was forcibly raped on the roof of a NYCHA constructing close to Amazan’s shelter, prosecutors mentioned.
“He targets people whose life circumstances make it difficult for them to report his abuse,” Turcotte mentioned.
Prison costs on these two instances had been pending.
Thompson suffered trauma to her head, face, neck, torso, and limbs, officers mentioned. Throughout an post-mortem, the town Medical Examiner realized that a number of bones in Thompson’s neck had been damaged and that she died from compression of the neck, officers mentioned.
Investigators discovered DNA on Thompson’s physique that they had been in a position to hyperlink to Amazan, a sign he doubtless had intercourse with Thompson a while earlier than her demise.
Cops arrested Amazan on Wednesday after discovering him in Harlem — greater than a month after Thompson’s physique was discovered, cops mentioned.
Amazan, who resides at a Brooklyn homeless shelter, had been arrested for patronizing a prostitute and public lewdness on Aug. 12 close to the place the homeless girl’s physique had been discovered weeks earlier, court docket information present. He was launched with out bail and had been anticipated to return to court docket on the costs on Sept. 19.
The New York County Defender Providers, which represented Amazan at his arraignment, declined to remark when reached about Amazan’s costs.
