Woman accused of killing ex-girlfriend with shot to head outside of NY deli

“I am turning myself in for the homicide,” Latisha Bell allegedly said after the shooting death of Nichelle Thomas

Apr 23, 2021

A Bronx woman is in jail after being caught on camera shooting her ex-girlfriend.

Nichelle Thomas, 51, was shot in the back of the head in broad daylight on Wednesday in front of a deli bodega. Latisha Bell is accused of shooting her ex execution-style at the corner of St. Marks Place and 4th Avenue in Park Slope as she was entering the store. Reports say the couple had a tumultuous relationship and fought often, per NBC New York.

“It’s scary. If the bullet hadn’t hit her, I might have been the one hit,” said Mohammed Ali, 57, the deli worker, per New York Post.

Ali described what the people initially thought happened.

“I had a lot of people here inside the place and we thought it was like a firecracker or something and then we saw the lady fall over,” said Ali. He went outside and saw, “a lady lying face-up on the sidewalk and above her eyes was a hole with blood coming out.”

“The man next to the ATM machine said the lady went down,” he added. “At that point, I said there’s got to be something wrong so I looked at the cameras. When I went outside, I saw the blood coming from her head. I know the lady. She was a very nice person. She was always here. I’ve known her a long time.”

In the video, Bell is apparently in all Black with her face uncovered and seen running up behind her ex and shooting her in the back of the head.

“She was a very nice lady,” said a neighbor of Thomas. “She didn’t deserve this,” per New York Post.

“I’m confused,” added the victim’s daughter, per NY Daily News. “I don’t know what happened. I can’t talk right now.”

The victim was a regular customer at the store and well liked. She was taken to Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital where she passed away.

A neighbor added: “They lived together for years, but they were always fighting. They had a big falling out about three years ago and she left.”

Police are still investigating.

“This is a good area. People don’t get shot here, especially in broad daylight on a busy intersection. There’s so little enforcement anymore, people feel emboldened,” said Andrea Iglesias, 52.

The shooting was the first in the neighborhood this year.

Bell, 38, fled but later tuned herself into authorities at the 78th Precinct station. She was charged with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon.

“I am turning myself in for the homicide,” Bell allegedly said after walking into the 78th Precinct stationhouse, according to a criminal complaint. “The gun is inside the bag. I need to talk to the homicide detective. I did the shooting.”

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