Murder at The Top!

Wow!

Woman found dead in apparent homicide

Authorities on Monday were investigating the killing of a woman in Maplewood, a spokeswoman for the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said. The death was a homicide and there were no immediate arrests reported, according to prosecutor’s office spokeswoman Katherine Carter. Officials did not immediately release more information or say if they were seeking a suspect. Police and prosecutor’s office investigators were gathered at the crime scene at The Top, a condominium building in the 600 block of South Orange Avenue, near South Mountain Reservation. Officers appeared to be standing at the entrance while investigators took photos and removed bags from the area. A person who answered the phone at the building said police remained on scene as of around 5 p.m. after working at the building much of the day. No other details were immediately available. Noah Cohen


Tapinto article said a woman was killed and her son is the suspect.  He fled the scene.  They lived in separate apartments.

https://www.tapinto.net/towns/soma/sections/police-and-fire/articles/homicide-at-the-top-in-maplewood


When you live in a luxury apartment building, your murder gets a "Wow" and an exclamation point.


Was walking my dog yesterday up SO Ave - Wyoming Ave around 2;30 and heard sirens and then saw a helicopter over the Top for a while.  Wondered what was up - thanks for the info.

Sh*t happens everywhere.


nohero said:

When you live in a luxury apartment building, your murder gets a "Wow" and an exclamation point.

 Not to make light of a tragedy but I thought this thread was going to be about a book.


I read about this on the Village Green this morning.  


Saw a ton of cop cars and ambulances there when I brought dog to the Rez.  It felt like something really bad happened.


Just googled this. The son Benjamin Avrat,35 was arrested and charged with murder.His mother,Gwen Avrat was 70.


galileo said:

Just googled this. The son Benjamin Avrat,35 was arrested and charged with murder.His mother,Gwen Avrat was 70.

 https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/essex/2021/01/05/maplewood-nj-murder-charges-against-man-in-70-year-old-mothers-death/4139786001/


so let me get this straight...PD goes to the apartment....killer claims its not her apartment, and PD doesn't follow up until the daughter calls later?  They didn't try to verify the address or who turned out to be the killer's identity before the 2nd call?

She had a car....they could have checked the address through that, checked with the person that called 1st, checked with the neighbors about who actually lived there.....


So in other words, the police could have saved the victim if they had confirmed the address during their first visit?


jmitw said:

so let me get this straight...PD goes to the apartment....killer claims its not her apartment, and PD doesn't follow up until the daughter calls later?  They didn't try to verify the address or who turned out to be the killer's identity before the 2nd call?

She had a car....they could have checked the address through that, checked with the person that called 1st, checked with the neighbors about who actually lived there.....

The way I read it is that he gave a fake name and said he also lived there.  Why didn't police check his ID?  There are a lot of unanswered questions.


To be fair the first visit was due to a missed appointment.  

The second was from a family member which is a more credible call which is why they made entry for that one. 


he said he lived there ALONE, but even if he said he also lived there they still needed to try to make contact with the woman.  we don't know who called about the missed appointment...i doubt it would be a doctor's office unless it was mental health and they were afraid she may harm herself...which would make it even more urgent to verify her welfare.

but even PD had investigated further, it was possible it was too late by the time they got there the 1st time. my 2 former most trusted friends were cops...the friendship ended because of the abusiveness.  I have been the victim of poor judgement by PD of multiple occasions....like when I was fully stopped at a red light as was the guy behind me for 15-30 seconds, when he suddenly rammed into me....cop went off on me for causing the accident by talking on my cell phone....which was actually powered off and in my back pocket....so never mind the fact that I was rear ended, and my phone records could prove I wasn't using it...i'm just very frustrated with PD..inn various towns...and that makes me question their lack of action in this case.


jmitw said:

he said he lived there ALONE, but even if he said he also lived there they still needed to try to make contact with the woman.  we don't know who called about the missed appointment...i doubt it would be a doctor's office unless it was mental health and they were afraid she may harm herself...which would make it even more urgent to verify her welfare.

but even PD had investigated further, it was possible it was too late by the time they got there the 1st time. my 2 former most trusted friends were cops...the friendship ended because of the abusiveness.  I have been the victim of poor judgement by PD of multiple occasions....like when I was fully stopped at a red light as was the guy behind me for 15-30 seconds, when he suddenly rammed into me....cop went off on me for causing the accident by talking on my cell phone....which was actually powered off and in my back pocket....so never mind the fact that I was rear ended, and my phone records could prove I wasn't using it...i'm just very frustrated with PD..inn various towns...and that makes me question their lack of action in this case.

You're right.  I read the article too quickly.  I thought "alone" was "also."


Compare this to incidents involving Black people such as Breonna Taylor


the victim is still listed as the property owner at that address...that is quickly available through online public records.  there is sometimes a delay of about a month with updating, but rarely more.  Town Hall likely could verify current owner and if the owner lived there.  There are so many simple things that could have been done to verify.  I could see if PD was backed up with numerous calls, but that is not usual...they should have  had the time to do a little digging.


STANV said:

Compare this to incidents involving Black people such as Breonna Taylor

 While what happened to Breonna Taylor was absolutely murder, this is completely different.  They weren’t conducting a raid, but were doing a health and welfare check.  Not even close.



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