95-year-old woman charged with murder in death of elderly nursing home roommate
Nina Kravtsov is shown inside her room at Seagate Rehabilitation and Nursing Center. (Obtained by ABC News)
(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.
(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge halted the Trump administration’s efforts to withhold grant funding from “sanctuary” cities and counties for not cooperating with immigration enforcement.
The 15-page order from Judge William Orrick grants a preliminary injunction in the administration’s effort to withhold funds and expands the number of cities that federal funds can’t be withheld from due to their “sanctuary” status for undocumented immigrants.
The Trump administration has sought to strip the cities’ Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grants due to their lack of cooperation with immigration authorities.
More than 30 cities from Albuquerque to Boston were under the ruling — which amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars in grants.
The Trump administration has been increasing its efforts to have so-called “sanctuary cities” cooperate with the federal government.
The Department of Justice in recent months has filed several legal challenges in several cities and states including New York City, New York state, Los Angeles, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, challenging policies that that blocked immigration officials from arresting people at or near courthouses without a warrant signed by a judge.
(NEW YORK) — Hurricane Erin may not make landfall, but it still could have a devastating consequences for East Coast residents.
The first hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic season is forecast to cause rough surf, large waves and life-threatening rip currents for much of the East Coast despite churning northward several hundred miles offshore.
Average sea levels for many East Coast communities are now about a half foot higher today than they were just a few decades ago, climate scientists say, intensifying coastal erosion along the U.S. coastline.
Some of the biggest waves from Erin could occur in the evening during high tide, Kimberly McKenna, interim executive director of the Coastal Research Center at Stockton University in New Jersey, told ABC News. But states will have to “wait and see” just how harmful Erin is to the coasts, McKenna added.
Coastal erosion is part of the planet’s natural cycle, but warming global temperatures and rising sea levels are worsening the damage to the coast’s natural barriers, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Human-amplified climate change is making coastal areas more vulnerable, as more intense storms increase the risks of flooding and shoreline erosion, according to the Fifth National Climate Assessment, a 2023 summary of the latest climate science research findings by 14 different federal agencies.
Higher water levels allow waves, tides and storm surges to penetrate farther inland, eroding dunes and beaches more easily.
Human modifications to coastal landscapes, such as seawalls and levees, can worsen flood risks, accelerate erosion and hinder the ability of coastal ecosystems to naturally adapt, according to the Fifth National Climate Assessment.
Since 1970, the North Carolina coastline has experienced an average sea level rise of 7 inches, according to the Interagency Task Force on Sea Level Change.
By 2050, the U.S. East Coast is projected to experience an average sea level rise of 10 to 14 inches.
Solutions such as shoreline “hardening” — which involves the installation of seawalls, groins, rip-rap and levees — as well as beach nourishment, which includes adding sand to beaches, can help protect coasts, according to Climate.gov.
McKenna expects the beaches in New Jersey will be able to withstand the impacts of Erin.
“Right now, a lot of our beaches are pretty wide and can handle some of the wave impacts that are proposed,” McKenna said.
By Wednesday afternoon, Hurricane Erin was located about 350 miles off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. It is expected march north, parallel to the East Coast, over the next 24 hours, and then race northeast across the north Atlantic Ocean into the upcoming weekend.
Impacts such as destructive waves, high rip currents and coastal flooding are expected from Wednesday through Saturday morning as Erin moves northeast.
In North Carolina, beaches in the Outer Banks are eroding at some of the fastest rates on the East Coast, according to the EPA.
The area’s low elevation makes it particularly vulnerable to the impacts of sea level rise, experts say.
More than 2,000 people were evacuated by ferry from barrier islands in the southern part of the Outer Banks by Wednesday afternoon, according to officials.
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein issued an emergency declaration ahead of the storm due to the threats of coastal flooding, beach erosion and dangerous surf conditions.
“North Carolinians along the coast should get prepared now, ensure their emergency kit is ready, and listen to local emergency guidelines and alerts in the event they need to evacuate,” Stein said.
(LOWELL, Mass.) — An individual seen wielding what appeared to be a firearm near a Massachusetts university dormitory, prompting a shelter-in-place order and large law enforcement response, has been identified as a juvenile holding an airsoft replica firearm, police said Thursday.
The Lowell Police Department said it received a report of a person possibly armed with a gun on the University of Massachusetts Lowell’s campus just before 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, which marked the first day of classes for undergraduate students.
A video widely circulated online showed an individual walking with what appeared to be a firearm near a UMass Lowell dormitory on Wednesday.
The university issued a campus-wide shelter-in-place order and canceled classes and events for the rest of the day.
Multiple agencies responded, including local and state police, with the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also providing assistance. Officers searched the grounds and a drone, K9s and a police air unit were deployed.
The shelter-in-place was ultimately lifted shortly after 5:15 p.m. Wednesday when authorities “determined the suspect was no longer in the vicinity,” UMass Lowell said in a statement.
There were no shots fired or any injuries, Lowell Police Chief Ron Dickerson said Wednesday.
Lowell police said Thursday they recovered the weapon, which was confirmed to be an airsoft replica firearm. The individual was identified as a juvenile male, police said.
“While the reported firearm in this case was ultimately determined to be an airsoft gun, our community can be certain that, as in this case, the Lowell Police Department will always utilize all available resources until the safety of all involved is assured,” Lowell Police Superintendent Greg Hudon said in a statement.
Police did not release any more details on the juvenile, including his age, how they identified him, what he was doing on campus or if any charges are possible. ABC News has reached out for more information.
ABC News’ Victoria Arancio contributed to this report.
