A Bronx woman has been charged with the execution-style murder of Brooklyn woman Nichelle Thomas, who was killed outside a Park Slope deli in April.
Latisha Bell, 39, was arraigned on an indictment in which she is charged with second-degree murder for fatally shooting her ex-girlfriend around 1:00pm on April 21, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said Monday.
"This broad-daylight shooting tragically cut short the life of a beloved mother and a treasured member of a local neighborhood and faith-based community," he said.
"The horrific violence this defendant allegedly committed was shocking and senseless."
Thomas, 52, was a mother of two and a grandmother who was in graduate school to become a social worker. She was also a prominent and active member of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Clinton Hill.
Prior to the fatal shooting, she had been involved in a relationship with Bell.
On the day of the shooting, Bell allegedly followed Thomas and as she entered a deli at the corner of Saint Marks Place and Fourth Avenue in Park Slope, she fatally shot her once in the back of the head, according to Gonzalez.
Thomas died at New York Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital.
A few hours after the shooting, Bell turned herself in at the New York City Police Department's 78th Precinct, where police recovered the .38 caliber revolver Bell allegedly used in the shooting. Surveillance video from outside the deli allegedly shows the defendant approach the victim from behind and open fire execution-style at close range.
Bell is charged with one count of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. She was ordered held without bail and to return to court on July 19, 2021. She faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted of the top count.
Gonzalez urged anyone experiencing violence or abuse at the hands of an intimate partner or a former partner to contact the trained counselors at Victim Services Unit at 718-250-3820.
