Woman, 45, found shot decomposing in her Bronx NYCHA apartment

A 45-year-old woman mother of two was found shot to death and decomposing in her Bronx apartment, cops said Sunday.

And in an eerie twist, the victim’s two young daughters went missing the same day a neighbor recalled hearing what he believes were the fatal shots — only to be found safe Sunday afternoon.

Police came knocking on Cindy Maxwell’s door in the Parkside Houses on Arnow Ave. near Barker Ave. in Allerton about 3:50 p.m. Saturday after being asked to check on her well-being.

That call to cops came from a downstairs neighbor who said he was alarmed by the foul smell.

“It smelled like 200 dead rats upstairs,” said the neighbor, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Just coming off the elevator there was a really bad smell. I had to locate that smell and I called it in.”

NYPD officers found Maxwell dead face-up inside her apartment. She had been shot multiple times in the chest, cops said.

“She was lying there in the living room with gunshot wounds to her body,” the downstairs neighbor said. “She was decomposing. Her body was swollen up.”

On Sunday at about 2:30 p.m., the NYPD sent out a media alert that the victim’s two daughters, Latasha, 11, and Niasia, 6, were missing and were last seen leaving their home about 10 a.m. Wednesday.

About 20 minutes later, police sent out an update that they were found safe.

An NYPD spokeswoman said they were found Sunday afternoon but wouldn’t elaborate because the murder is still under investigation and the killer is on the loose.

A law enforcement source said they were found at an apartment building in Mt. Hope about 2-and-a-half miles from their home.

The neighbor said he heard four gunshots on Wednesday but police responded that day to a different building in the complex, perhaps because of the way the sound echoes through the housing development.

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“I know what a dead body smells like and I was just trusting my gut feeling. I called cops for a wellness check on that apartment,” he said. “Nobody ever came since the shooting. I was like, ‘I’m sick of this and it’s been smelling like this for two days.’”

Maxwell worked as a home attendant, said one friend, Marta Medina.

“She was a nice person,” said Medina, 50. “She lived in the building a long time and she had two daughters.”

“It really shocked me,” Medina said. “She did me a favor last week. She gave me a can of spaghetti sauce … I don’t know of anyone who would do this to her.”

Police have made no arrests in her slaying.

The killing marks the fourth homicide in the Bronx’s 49th Precinct this year The precinct saw nine killings in all of 2022, according to NYPD statistics.

With Rocco Parascandola

Originally Published: Aug 27, 2023 at 8:35 am