MELROSE — An ex-con was charged with killing a father and veteran former nurse by kicking him down the stairs of a Melrose housing project after a fight over drug money, police said.
Arnell Jones, 54, was arrested at his home in the Melrose Houses, the same location as the crime, on Thursday morning and charged with murder and manslaughter.
Investigators originally thought that Eric Simmons, a 68-year-old former nurse, may have fallen down the stairs and hit his head, but the city's medical examiner's office ruled his death a homicide.
Blunt force trauma to the head was listed as the cause.
Jones kicked Simmons down the stairs at 320 E. 156th St. on Jan. 28 during an argument about unpaid debts regarding heroin, police said.
Jones has an extensive criminal record, including rape, state correctional records show.
Simmons also had multiple prior convictions and had been arrested three times — 2001, 2004 and 2006 — for criminal possession of a controlled substance, police said.
Sources said a bag of heroin was found near his body.
Simmons worked at Lincoln Hospital from 1975 until 2013, a hospital spokeswoman said.
