JACKSON HEIGHTS — Jackson Heights reported the lowest number of murders last year in the two decades since the NYPD started recording crime statistics — with one incident in the local precinct, according to Deputy Inspector Brian Hennessy.
The area had six murders in 2014, records show. The NYPD started its crime recording system, CompStat, in 1994.
The update came as police charged the lone suspect, Jordan Vecchio, 32, with murder and robbery in connection with his attack on Celica Londono, 80, near her home on 76th Street and 35th Avenue in September 2015, police said.
Vecchio allegedly threw Londono to the ground when she resisted a mugging, using a box cutter to cut her purse away from her, according to police.
Despite the brutal attack, Londono — described by her son as a "tough New Yorker" who loved her neighborhood of five decades — was able to identify her attacker to police, helping them make an arrest.
She died days later in the hospital, her son said.
Vecchio was out on parole at the time of the attack for stealing a car and had also been arrested the month before for trespassing, officials said.
He was unrepentant after his arrest, allegedly telling police he hoped Londono was hurt and "nobody cares about her age."
"I'll max out my parole and come out better and stronger, I wish she got hurt," he said, according to the criminal complaint.
Hennessy said at the monthly community council meeting that his precinct's focus in 2015 was on gang activity, which contributed to 2014's killings.
"Gang violence was a major focus," he said.
