Harlem Stabbing Death Of Senior Was Tragic Family Affair: Prosecutors

HARLEM, NY — A stabbing death of a 74-year-old man in Harlem was the result of a longstanding dispute over access to the bathroom, according to prosecutors.

Nehemiah Terry-Peterson, 23, was charged with manslaughter, criminal contempts and weapons possession charges after fatally stabbing his grand-uncle-in-law, Simon Beverly, in their West 151st Street apartment on Friday, officials said.

Prosecutors, armed with supportive but still limited video evidence, said the death seems to be the result of an untenable living situation — the layout of the apartment required Beverly to walk through Terry-Peterson's bedroom to access the bathroom.

Back in October, the nephew was arrested for slamming the door in Beverly's face, breaking his nose.

Terry-Peterson was given an assault charge and a limited order of protection, since the pair continued to live together, Assistant District Attorney Sarah Marquez said during Terry-Peterson's arraignment on Sunday.

On Friday, another dispute broke out when Beverly walked through Terry-Peterson's bedroom and the two began to argue, Marquez said.

After the grand-uncle left, Terry-Peterson grabbed something from his backpack and stuck it in his pocket, prosecutors said, citing video evidence from inside the apartment.

Beverly re-entered the room, armed with a large knife and lunged at his great-nephew-in-law — who begged for him to leave, according to prosecutors.

As Beverly appeared to leave, he suddenly grabbed a pair of scissors off of a dresser, and as he started to turn, Terry-Peterson stabbed him in the chest and shoved him out of his bedroom, Marquez said.

In a subsequent 911 call, Terry-Peterson told the operator that his grand-uncle had stabbed himself as the pair fought, according to prosecutors.

Although Marquez said during the arraignment that the video evidence appears to support Terry-Peterson's self-defence claim, prosecutors and investigators have only been able to review about five minutes of footage, with substantial gaps still missing.

Regardless, prosecutors granted Terry-Peterson a supervised release for the time being.

A Daily News reporter was able to find Terry-Peterson's grandfather, who actually holds the lease for the unit.

He says that Beverly, the brother of his late wife, has been squatting in the apartment for nearly a decade without paying for anything — except his daily lottery tickets.

“I asked him on a few occasions — I told him, ‘I need my space.’ He told me he’s not moving, and he’s gonna leave when he feels like,” Terry-Peterson's grandfather told the Daily News on Friday.

The building's super told the Daily News that there was "constant fighting," and that the two "almost killed each other last time... and nothing was done."