A New York man was indicted for murder this week in an alleged attack of a social worker who was on the job when she was stomped on and kicked in the head with “heavy boots” in May, prosecutors said.
Hasseem Jenkins, 31, of Peekskill, is accused of causing fatal injuries to Maria Coto, 56, on May 14, according to a Tuesday statement from the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office.
Coto was on duty conducting home visits in Peekskill when “she became the victim of a ruthless and brutal attack that led to her tragic death,” Westchester District Attorney Miriam E. Rocah said in the statement. The defendant, prosecutors said, “repeatedly punched her in the face, chased her into a neighbor’s apartment and repeatedly kicked her in the head while wearing heavy boots.”
Coto sustained a severe brain bleed, swelling and multiple facial fractures. She was placed on a ventilator and remained unconscious until her death on June 19, prosecutors said.
She was a case worker for the county’s Department of Social Services, prosecutors said.
Jenkins was indicted by a county grand jury on two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree burglary, third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, first-degree robbery and resisting arrest, according to prosecutors.
He was arraigned earlier this week, prosecutors said, and remains remanded to the Westchester County Jail. His next court date is on Tuesday, officials said.
A motive in the attack was not mentioned in Rocah’s statement. It was also not clear whether Jenkins and Coto had previously known each other.
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