An irate man ripped a metal locker door from its hinges inside a Bronx men’s shelter and bludgeoned his roommate to death with it, cops and witnesses said Sunday.
Anthony Mawuena, 37, was arrested and charged with murder, manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon for attacking his 48-year-old roommate, who was assaulted and struck multiple times with a metal object on the head and body inside the building on Phelan Place near Billingsley Terrace in Morris Heights about 10:50 p.m. Saturday, police said.
Medics rushed the victim to St. Barnabas Hospital but he could not be saved. His name was not immediately released.
The shelter, which is operated by Samaritan Daytop Village, is a five-story brick building with dorm-style living.
Shelter residents described the victim as a quiet, hard-working family man from Ecuador who largely kept to himself. “The guy always worked, talked to his family,” said Elias, a 36-year-old resident who declined to give his last name, and who said he believes the victim worked as a painter.
“He speaks Spanish. Doesn’t talk to no one. Respectful,” Elias said.
Elias said he was lying in his bed in a different room on the same floor, with the door open, when he saw the victim run screaming from the room he shared with Mawuena into the hallway, bleeding from a gash on his head.
“He came to my room in his red boxers and he was screaming ‘Help!’,” Elias said of the victim — adding he watched from his bed, paralyzed with shock as Mawuena ran in behind rhe victim carrying a metal locker door and beat the victim with it right in front of him.
“He was holding the door like it was a gun,” Elias said.
Elias credits the victim with saving his life by distracting Mawuena when he was about to attack Elias.
“He got hit in the head and he fell down and then the guy tried to attack me,” Elias charged.
But just then the victim stood up.
“When he stood up, he in a way saved my life because the guy was trying to hit me and then he went after (the victim) again and started bashing him over and over and over,” Elias said.
“Right then and there I feel like he saved my life and it’s messing me up a lot,” Elias said.
After the slaying, Elias said he ran out of the room to alert building security while Mawuena wandered on the floor until he was apprehended.
Elias said as far as he knows, the victim and Mawuena did not have beef. “The problem was the mental issue that this guy had,” Elias speculated.
Elias and other residents alleged the shelter was disorganized, and that people with various support needs are housed together with minimal supervision and inadequate security.
“It’s like a dorm situation. The doors close but they don’t lock so anyone can have access to any door,” said one resident who did not want to give his name.
“There’s no medical on site. No help,” the resident said. “You come into a broken system. The help is not there and people get frustrated.”
The resident said he hopes the incident spurs more resources and oversight at the shelter.
A spokesperson for the Department of Social Services, which oversees the shelter system, said the shelter was operated by Samaritan Villages, a not-for-profit contractor that provides “wrap-around support services” — but declined to to comment further on the shelter organization or supports that are provided.
“This is a terrifying tragedy. Our hearts go out to the victim’s family, and we stand ready to support them every which way we can during this incredibly difficult time,” the spokesperson said.
“The health and safety of our clients is a top priority, and our shelter provider staff is working closely with impacted individuals to help them recover from this traumatic incident. Provider staff rapidly responded to address the quickly escalating incident between clients, while getting the victim to urgent care and notifying the authorities.”
The spokesperson added they could not comment further because “this incident is under investigation.”
Samaritan Villages did not immediately respond to request for comment.
