Woman shot to death and stuffed in bag on Manhattan street: NYPD

KIPS BAY, Manhattan (PIX11) — A family is searching for answers after a woman was killed and stuffed inside a sleeping bag, and then left on a dolly next to a pile of garbage bags on a Manhattan street Friday, police said.

Authorities found Yazmeen Williams, 31, with a gunshot wound to the head and wrapped in a plastic bag inside a sleeping bag at 207 East 27th St. near Third Avenue in Kips Bay at around 5 p.m., according to the NYPD and sources. The decomposing body was on a dolly next to a mound of garbage bags, sources said.

“We honestly don’t know who would hurt her,” the woman’s aunt, Nisha Ramirez, told PIX11 News. “She’s sweet. She’s a nice person and she grew up here. We don’t know why someone would have a motive to do something to her.”

A man was seen on video dragging the bag on an electric wheelchair before cops found the body near a tailor shop, law enforcement sources said. It wasn’t immediately clear how the man was connected to the case.

“It’s evil, just evil,” the victim’s cousin said. “She’s not trash.”

Williams was college-educated and had a twin brother and an 8-year-old sister, according to her family. She was about to begin a new job at the NYCHA.

“It’s just heartbreaking,” the cousin said.

The circumstances surrounding the woman’s death were unclear.

The medical examiner deemed the incident a homicide. There have been no arrests and the investigation is ongoing.

“She was murdered and left in a bag on the sidewalk for garbage collection,” according to a GoFundMe post titled Justice for Jazzy.

Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org , downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

Mira Wassef is a digital reporter who has covered news and sports in the NYC area for more than a decade. She joined PIX11 News in 2022. See more of her work here.

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