Left inset: Maria Coto (WABC). Right: Hasseem Jenkins appears in court on July 30, 2024 (News 12).
Two months after authorities said a Department of Social Services caseworker knocked on the wrong apartment door and was stomped on in an unprovoked attack, and one month after she died from her injuries, the suspect appeared in a New York courtroom on Tuesday to face an indictment on murder charges and several other criminal counts.
On May 14th, the City of Peekskill Police Department said that an assault was reported in the afternoon at an apartment on South Street and that 56-year-old Maria Coto was found “unconscious” at the scene, “having sustained serious head injuries.”
Hasseem Jenkins, 31, was also at the scene, authorities said, and he was booked thereafter into the Westchester County Jail where he’s been held since on attempted murder and assault charges. The suspect was allegedly wearing “heavy boots” as he stomped on Coto.
On June 19th, authorities provided the tragic update that Coto, who was on life support at a hospital, “died as a result of the injuries she sustained during this assault,” including injuries to her brain and fractures of her face. The victim had been on a ventilator, PIX 11 reported.
Westchester County court records reviewed by Law&Crime show that Jenkins appeared in court on Tuesday morning, entered a not guilty plea, and was held without bail in the murder, burglary, robbery, and criminal possession of a weapon case. The docket shows that Jenkins is accused of murder with intent and murder committed in the course of another felony.
The Journal News reported that the burglary and weapon possession charges stem from the allegations that Jenkins attacked Coto and then followed her into a different apartment to continue stomping on her head while wearing “heavy boots,” even as she lay bleeding on the ground.
More Law&Crime coverage: Dad on city bus heading home after work shot to death in seemingly random, unprovoked attack, cops say
One cops got to the scene, Jenkins allegedly cursed at the victim and subsequently falsely accused her of trying to stab him, the report said.
Coto, a member of the Civil Service Employees Association labor union, was remembered by co-workers and family alike for her dedication to her job — and a niece told local ABC affiliate WABC she was close to retiring at the time of the unprovoked attack.
News 12 reported Thursday that Coto’s goddaughter Judy Yanes and her aunt Maria Gutierrez looked on as their loved one’s accused killer appeared in court to face the murder charges.
“We’ll be here until he is put behind bars for the rest of his life,” Yanes reportedly said. Gutierrez reportedly added that she missed Coto “a lot,” and that she was “a great person with a big heart.”
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