A woman accused of fatally stabbing her mother more than 50 times then tossing a butchered dog out of a high-rise building initially claimed the victim killed herself, cops said.
Andre Eugene, 36, gave conflicting stories over what happened before she was charged with murder, aggravated cruelty to animals and criminal possession of a weapon, police said Wednesday.
Eugene was described by police as a transgender woman who had recently transitioned.
Police were initially alerted to the situation by Hyman’s sister who called cops just after 7 p.m. Friday to say Hyman had called her and screamed into the phone, but said nothing else.
When officers arrived at Hyman’s home at Hornell Loop in Starrett City in Brooklyn, they found Eugene naked and covered in blood in the building’s lobby, police said.
A neighbor who is a retired cop was with Eugene, police said.
Eugene, who has worked as a teaching assistant at P.S. 17 for the last 10 years, told the retired cop her mother had committed suicide, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told reporters Tuesday.
“I don’t need any help. My mother is dead. She committed suicide,” Eugene apparently told the neighbor.
But inside the apartment officers discovered Hyman’s body covered in blood and 58 stab wounds — with 26 wounds the head, Kenny said.
Outside the building investigators found a small curly-haired tan dog lying dead in the snow after it had been stabbed nine times and thrown off the apartment’s 11th-floor balcony.
Eugene had a dog bite on her thigh and several “shallow” stab wounds to her chest, Kenny said.
Eugene was taken to Brookdale hospital and treated for her injuries.
Eugene told police the fight started after her mother’s dog bit her. Eugene said she then stabbed the dog, and then her mother stabbed Eugene back, Kenny said.
Still, investigators determined Eugene’s stab wounds to be “self-inflicted”, Kenny said.
“We call them hesitation wounds,” Kenny said of the stab wounds on Eugene’s body. “We believe it to be self-inflicted,” Kenny explained.
Eugene had no prior criminal record, cops said.
Eugene was still awaiting arraignment as of Tuesday afternoon.