Man Indicted For Shocking Harlem Double Murder 3 Decades Ago: DA

HARLEM, NY — A man was indicted Thursday for a shocking double murder that claimed the lives of a Harlem woman and her special-needs daughter nearly 30 years ago, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office said.

Larry Atkinson, 64, was indicted on two counts of murder, in connection to the deaths of Sarah Roberts, 57, and her daughter Sharon Roberts, 27, who were found found strangled to death by oxygen machine tubing in their Harlem apartment in 1994, the DA said.

“As science advances, so does our ability to solve cold cases,” District Attorney Bragg said in a news release. “Here, new technology led to an indictment alleging the horrific murders of a mother and daughter dating back nearly 30 years."

A home attendant who was dating Atkinson at the time discovered both women dead on Feb. 20, 1994, within their NYCHA Grant Houses apartment at 550 W. 125th St., the DA said.

Atkinson was arrested in January after additional DNA testing was performed last year.

DNA compiled at the scene in 1994 didn't link to any suspect, but when the case got reexamined in 2022, biological evidence pointed to Atkinson, the Daily News reported.

Atkinson has three aliases and 28 prior arrests, the Daily News added.