MANHATTAN CRIMINAL COURT — An ex-con crushed the chest of a Harlem great-grandmother fracturing a dozen ribs before he savagely beat and strangled her to death after an argument as new details were revealed about the violent attack by prosecutors at a Friday arraignment.
"The facts in this case are awful," Assistant District Attorney Anne-Marie Whelan in describing 35-year-old Gregory Velez's alleged attack on Julia Hernandez, 73, who was discovered by family members bound and gagged, her face smothered with plastic, after the Oct. 25 attack.
The rib fractures were "consistent with someone either sitting or kneeling on her chest" and there were bruises all over her body, they explained.
At Velez's arraignment in criminal court, the ADA described how the crazed former convict tried to stop his alleged victim from getting help after the fight.
"Ms. Hernandez reached for the telephone to call police. He attacked her and he choked her to death," Whelan added.
"Her family found her bound and gagged with blood on the floor and plastic on her face," she said.
Prosecutors say "serious and extensive" injuries also included a bruised left eye, and scratches and bruises on her lips and a contusion on her scalp.
Velez's 10-year-old daughter is Hernandez's great-granddaughter, according to the DA's office. They did not describe what he was doing at Hernandez's 445 E. 120th Street apartment but the DA's office said he stole a large flat screen TV to make it look like she'd been robbed.
He is seen on surveillance video leaving her ninth floor apartment carrying the TV. Hernandez's apartment was ransacked, the DA's office said.
Velez's attorney, Daniel Gotlin, said his client denies the charges.
Velez has four felony convictions for drug sales and robberies, the DA said. He was ordered held without bail and is due back in court on Nov. 2.
Hernandez' funeral services will be held Tuesday from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. at First Avenue Funeral Services, 2242 First Ave. at E. 115th Street, family said.
