The man previously arrested for his role in the death of a woman whose body was found with a gunshot wound to the head inside a sleeping bag on a Manhattan sidewalk is now facing an additional charge: murder.
Chad Irish was arrested Monday and initially charged with concealment of a human corpse after 31-year-old Yazmeen Williams was found dead, thrown out with other trash for garbage pickup on an East 27th Street sidewalk in Kips Bay on Friday. On Tuesday, prosecutors added upgraded charges of second-degree murder and weapon possession, according to police.
The 55-year-old Irish also faces menacing and criminal weapons possession charges in another case, the NYPD said. He was recently paroled in 2022 after a conviction on robbery charges. And it's not the first time he's faced a murder charge: Investigators said he allegedly blew up a house as his uncle walked inside in 1994.
Williams' death was ruled a homicide. It's not clear how long her body was in the sleeping bag before the grisly discovery.
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Video and photos shared on social media show what appears to be a full-sized body covered in a dark sleeping bag that was further wrapped in black trash bags. Sources told NBC New York that surveillance video appeared to show a person in an electric wheelchair pulling the sleeping bag in tow.
Crowds on Monday tried to attack Irish as he was being arrested in connection with Williams' death. Officers and ambulance staff held the mob of dozens back while punches were thrown, as others were seen spitting on him. Tensions were high until the man was put into an ambulance and taken to a nearby hospital.
"How inhumane — you're dragging down the block somebody's daughter," New York City Mayor Eric Adams said at a press conference Tuesday. "He should be lucky that the police got him before that. Be lucky that the police got him before that community."
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The victim's mother, Nicole Williams, was there when he was led away.
"He’s disgusting…he looks like scum," said Williams. "They were angry. He...threw my daughter in a garbage bag."
Attorney information for the man wasn't available.
