3 New Murder Charges In Fatal NYC Nightclub Robbery Druggings: DA

NEW YORK CITY — A man faces three new murder charges in a spate of Lower Manhattan druggings and robberies that targeted nightclub visitors, prosecutors said.

Kenwood Allen, 33, now faces five total murder raps after an indictment leveled fresh charges against him Wednesday, authorities said.

Allen used fentanyl to drug and then rob 21 people as part of a crew who targeted late-night bar goers, prosecutors said. After those people passed out, often on the street, Allen and his crew stole their credit cards, watches, phones and other items, authorities said.

The robberies also turned deadly at least five times, prosecutors said. Over a 15-day span last summer, four people died after being drugged by Allen, said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

"I know we need this money tho," Allen texted someone amid the summer spate of drug robberies, according to the indictment.

Allen was originally indicted in December on two murder charges.

Prosecutors didn't identify the three murder victims from the new charges this week, but the New York Post reported that police sources said one was Kathryn Gallagher.

Gallagher, 35, was a fashion designer who dressed Lady Gaga and Rita Ora, among other celebrities. She was found dead in a Chinatown apartment July 24, 2022, in what authorities ruled a homicide during a "drug-facilitated theft."

One of Allen's new charges is for a murder that unfolded July 23, 2022, prosecutors said.

An indictment doesn't provide many details, but still gives an at-times day-by-day look into what prosecutors contend was a conspiracy to drug and rob people.

At several points, Allen and other, unnamed, people use credit and debit to make purchases or withdraw cash, such as at an East Village deli along Avenue A on Aug. 6 — the same day he fatally drugged someone, according to the indictment.

"These alleged pernicious drugging and robbery schemes have left far too many families mourning the loss of their loved ones," said District Attorney Bragg.

The robberies that authorities linked to Allen unfolded from March 18, 2022, to Dec. 18, 2022, prosecutors said.

And they're not the only recent robberies that targeted nightlife patrons with drugs.

Five people have been arrested in a robbery ring that prosecutors said targeted gay men, largely at Midtown and Hell's Kitchen nightclubs. Two of their victims died after being drugged, authorities said.

The gay nightclub drugging deaths and robberies are a separate investigation from Allen's case, prosecutors said.