Woman Who Butchered Mom, Threw Dog From Balcony Gets Prison Time, Brooklyn DA Says

BROOKLYN, NY — The Brooklyn resident who stabbed her mother more than 50 times before turning the knife on the family dog will spend the next 20 years of her life behind bars, officials said following her sentencing.

Drea Eugene, 38, pled guilty to second-degree murder back in September, officials said, and was sentenced to 20 years of state prison time last week.

"It is heartbreaking that a mother lost her life so violently at the hands of her only child," Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement. "This tragedy has shattered a family and deeply affected her loved ones. My office remains steadfast in pursuing justice for victims and holding those who commit such acts of domestic violence fully accountable."

The charges stem from a deadly attack in January 2024, when officers were called to 1500 Hornell Loop in Starrett City after multiple reports of a disturbance. Inside the apartment, they found 58-year-old Donna Hyman dead with stab wounds to her neck, chest, arms, back, and head, according to prosecutors.

Hyman’s dog, Gigi, was found outside the building after being stabbed more than 30 times and thrown from an 11th-floor balcony, prosecutors said.

Investigators determined that Eugene, who lived with Hyman, fatally stabbed her mother and the family dog during a violent outburst, then threw the dog from the apartment balcony. Shortly after the attack, she was found outside the building, naked and covered in blood, and taken into custody, police said.

Eugene was hospitalized with self-inflicted stab wounds and a dog bite before being charged with her mother’s murder on Jan. 24, prosecutors said.