An aspiring model in New York was fatally stabbed on December 16, allegedly by her roommate at a Manhattan homeless women’s shelter, according to statements from the New York City Police Department.
42-year-old Charmaine Croffman allegedly went on the run after allegedly stabbing 27-year-old Victoria Goode to death, per NYPD updates. The altercation allegedly occurred after the two got into an argument about loud music in their room, multiple news outlets report.
At about 10 p.m., Goode was found suffering from multiple stab wounds in a sixth-floor hallway of the Project Renewal New Providence Women’s Shelter on East 45th Street.
“I heard a lot of screaming and I came out, went upstairs and seen a lot of blood in the hallway,” another shelter resident, Melinda Anders, told the New York Daily News. “It made my stomach upset. That’s something I can’t forget. … I heard it all the way down on the second floor.”
The attack was reportedly caught on surveillance video, and Croffman was allegedly seen tossing the bloody knife into a trash bin in the street afterward.
Croffman was found four days later following a citywide search. She is currently being held without bond, NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said in a press briefing.
Goode was pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital.
Goode moved to New York City from Oklahoma City five years ago to pursue a runway modeling career, her brother told the Daily News. She had recently done a shoot for VOGUE Mexico, but was struggling to make ends meet. This prompted her to stay in women’s shelters or with friends while she tried to secure more permanent housing.
Her family is now speaking out about what Goode may have dealt with at the shelter before her death.
The victim’s father claimed Goode had been afraid of her roommate. “She feared for her life before the attack, that’s what her mother told me,” James Goode alleged to the New York Post. “She complained to the shelter more than once, and she called the cops too.”
“My baby’s gone, my only daughter,” the grieving father told the Post.
The shelter Goode was killed at, dubbed New Providence, has allegedly experienced prior incidents, as well as resident concerns about security.
“I’m scared for my life being around this environment,” said one resident to the Daily News. “It’s not safe.” The shelter has not commented on these claims, but in a videotaped briefing posted online, a spokesperson from the NYPD’s 17th Precinct Council said there were “a lot of disturbing things [at that shelter], so it’s no surprise there was an incident of this nature there. We are working to improve the situation there.”
Goode’s brother has launched a GoFundMe for the family’s funeral expenses and help with moving her body back to Oklahoma.
Croffman was arrested Tuesday night and is charged with murder, per police. It’s unclear if she has issued a plea or retained a lawyer.
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