A man taken into police custody after a 63-year-old woman was found beaten to death in a Central Park gazebo has now been arrested for murdering her, police said Monday.
Jonathan Robles, 36, was charged Sunday night with murder and weapons possession for the slaying near the Ramble and Central Park boathouse.
While cops initially said she had been stabbed multiple times in addition to suffering a head injury, they are now saying she was beaten with a wooden stick and not stabbed.
The victim was found dead in a gazebo near East Drive and E. 74th St. after police responded to a 911 call at 9:43 a.m. Sunday. Her name was not immediately released.
Robles surrendered at a local NYPD stationhouse after the body was discovered, cops said. The stick has not been recovered.
The victim may have been living in the park, police say. She was barefoot and covered in dirt when she was found dead, the New York Times reported.
CBS News New York spoke with a man in the park who knew the woman and said she would often stay in the gazebo.
“You come any time and she’s there. Horrible, horrible, horrible,” Moses Diaz told the station. “She was a sweet woman.”
The suspect lives in a transitional housing facility in Hell’s Kitchen, according to cops. He was taken to a hospital to be treated for an injury to his hand after his arrest.
His arraignment was pending in Manhattan Criminal Court Monday.
The slaying is the first homicide of the year in Central Park, which saw no murders last year.
