Murderer Sentenced For Killing Roommate In Manhattan Shelter, Prosecutors Say

MIDTOWN EAST, NY — A Manhattan woman was sentenced to 23 years to life in state prison for fatally stabbing her roommate inside a Midtown East women’s shelter following a dispute, prosecutors said.

Alvin Bragg said Tuesday that 42-year-old Charmaine Crossman was sentenced after a jury convicted her on Oct. 15 of second-degree murder in the death of Victoria Goode.

The stabbing occurred on Dec. 16, 2022, after the two women had been living together in the Project Renewal New Providence Women's Shelter on 45th Street for nearly a month, Bragg said.

According to trial testimony, Crossman complained to a supervisor that Goode was playing loud music. Minutes later, Crossman entered Goode’s room and sprayed air freshener at her and a friend, Bragg said.

When Goode stood up to leave the room, Crossman followed her into the hallway and began stabbing her repeatedly, prosecutors said. Goode was chased through the shelter while Crossman held the knife, until Goode collapsed from her injuries. She later died, Bragg said.

After the attack, Crossman returned briefly to her room before leaving the shelter through a stairwell, authorities said. Investigators later recovered a knife wrapped in a white towel from a trash can near the building, Bragg said.

"Shelters should be safe places for New Yorkers in need, and any violence that occurs in them will impact some of our most vulnerable residents," Bragg said. "Ms. Goode was preparing to get her own apartment and start fresh, until her life was tragically cut short by this brutal stabbing. I know her family, including her parents and siblings, continue to be [devastated] by their loss."

Crossman was convicted of second-degree murder, a class A-I felony, Bragg said.

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