An elderly woman with dementia is facing murder charges after allegedly using part of a wheelchair to beat a fellow New York City nursing home resident to death.
Galina Smirnova, 95, was arrested Tuesday after repeatedly hitting 89-year-old Nina Kravtsov, a Holocaust survivor, over the head during an argument at Seagate Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Coney Island, the New York Post reported.
Smirnova, who has dementia, used a metal piece of a wheelchair to bludgeon Kravtsov Sunday, police sources told NBC New York.
Kravtsov was rushed to the hospital, but died from her injuries early Monday morning, authorities said.
Her daughter, Lucy Flom, said her mom was a Holocaust survivor and single mother who moved to the U.S. to give her a better life.
Kravtsov grew up in Ukraine and moved to New York City as an adult, settling in Brighton Beach, a neighborhood nicknamed “Little Odessa” after the Ukrainian city, her daughter said.
“She was 5 years old when she was in the ghetto,” Flom told the Post. “She had a big family. She lost most of her family.”
Kravtsov worked as a nurse while living in Ukraine and was also a teen mom, her daughter said.
“She sacrificed a lot. She was a single mom. She had me when she was 18,” Flom said. “She came here to give me a good education.”
“She was a very dedicated mother,” she added.
Following the killing, Smirnova was taken to hospital for a physical and psychiatric evaluation, sources told the Post.
Authorities have not said what the two women were arguing about at the time of the deadly altercation. Brooklyn’s Seagate Rehabilitation and Nursing Center did not immediately return The Independent’s request for comment.
Smirnova has been charged with murder and criminal possession of weapons.
