126 West 83rd Street (Google Maps)
The former building worker who murdered a 74-year-old woman inside her own Upper West Side apartment will spend at least the next 35 years in state prison.
Advertisement
Lashawn Mackey was sentenced Tuesday to 35 years-to-life for the January 2023 killing of Maria Hernandez, who was found bound and beaten in her apartment at 126 West 83rd Street, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office announced.“Following his conviction at trial, Lashawn Mackey has been sentenced to a significant state prison term for the heinous murder of Maria Hernandez – a loving mother and grandmother,” District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement. “The evidence presented at trial demonstrated the calculated and appalling nature of this crime, and today’s sentence reflects its severity.”
Bragg added that Hernandez’s family “has endured unimaginable grief and loss” in the years since her death, and said he hoped the sentence brings them some measure of comfort “in knowing the defendant has been held accountable.”
Hernandez was discovered by her sister, Maria Terrero, on the evening of Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023, at about 9:55 p.m. Her hands and feet had been bound together behind her back, and responding officers found her face down and covered in strewn clothing, with lacerations across her body. Her death was later deemed a homicide.
Advertisement
Mackey, who had worked as a temporary superintendent in Hernandez’s building between May and August of 2022, was arrested days after the killing. He and Terrence Moore were indicted the following month on charges including murder, aggravated sexual abuse, robbery, and burglary. Prosecutors said the two men entered the building together, forced their way into the superintendent’s office, and disabled the surveillance video system before the attack, then left the building with two bags belonging to Hernandez.Have a news tip? Send it to us here!
