THE BRONX — The director of a Wakefield homeless shelter was fatally shot in the head by a former resident who forced her to strip naked at gunpoint and tried to rape her Monday afternoon, police said.
Ana Charle, 36, who directed a Project Renewal shelter at 4380 Bronx Blvd., was getting into her car near East 237th Street and Bullard Avenue when West Spruill, 39, attacked her about 5:50 p.m., an NYPD spokesman said.
Spruill had met Charle at the Bronx Boulevard shelter, where he had stayed for seven months last year, sources said. He moved to a Manhattan shelter in 2015, but returned to Wakefield Monday to stalk Charle, sources said.
Spruill, who has a violent criminal history stretching back to 1993, forced Charle to strip naked at gunpoint while he took his own clothes off and then tried to rape her, sources said.
Charle, who lived in Whitestone with her 9- and 11-year-old daughters, managed to slip free and ran naked through the street, sources said. Spruill chased after her and shot her three times outside 4366 Bullard Ave., near East 237th Street, officials said.
A bullet from his .40-caliber handgun pierced her head, another pierced her cheek and a third hit her chest, sources said.
Charle, who emigrated to New York from Barcelona, Spain, was pronounced dead at Montefiore Medical Center, police said.
Spruill returned to his car after the shooting and put his clothes back on before calmly leaving the scene, police said.
Officers canvassed the neighborhood and apprehended him near Bronx Boulevard and East 236th Street, police said.
He was still awaiting arraignment on murder and gun possession charges Wednesday morning, prosecutors said.
Spruill was arrested three times in 1993 for robbery, assault and another incident that was sealed, officials said.
He was convicted in 1994 for attempted murder and spent the next decade in a New York prison, prison records show.
Spruill was arrested in January 2006 for an assault in Michigan and spent eight years behind bars, Michigan prison records show.
He was arrested for punching a man so hard that he was bleeding from his swollen mouth in Downtown Brooklyn about 9:30 a.m. on March 17, prosecutors said. Spruill was arraigned on assault charges and released that same day, prosecutors said.
Charle was devoted to her work with the homeless and believed that she could make a difference, sources said. She had moved to the Bronx shelter after her previous shelter grew too dangerous, sources said.
"Our hearts and thoughts go out to Ana's entire family," Project Renewal wrote in a Facebook post.
"Ana was a dedicated, wonderful and loving person. She worked tirelessly to improve the lives of others. Ana exemplified the very best of Project Renewal and we are heartbroken by this senseless and tragic loss."
