Neighbor Of Killed UWS Woman Charged With Murder, Police Say

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — A young Upper West Side woman is facing charges in connection with the killing of her neighbor, police said.

Anya Johnston, 24, was arrested Wednesday and charged with burglary and murder for the death of 70-year-old Susan Trott, police said. Johnston lives one floor above Trott's apartment in a West End Avenue apartment building, police said.

An NYPD spokeswoman said a motive for the killing is still under investigation. Johnston received a psychiatric evaluation before she was charged, according to reports.

NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea said that the NYPD believes "all the pieces of that puzzle are within that building," regarding Trott's murder.

Around 4 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 21, Trott was found suffering a slash wound to the neck inside her apartment on West End Avenue and West 95th Street, police said. Officers responded to the building to check on Trott after a business associate called for a wellness check, police said.

An autopsy conducted the next day revealed that Trott's death was caused by the slash wound, Shea said.

Trott was well-known in her West End Avenue building and had both admirers and critics, the New York Times reported. The 70-year-old's habit of feeding neighborhood birds, sometimes at midnight, led to her being harassed by her neighbors who thought she was attracting rats to the building, the Times reported.
An Upper West Side residents who spoke to Trott often told the Times that the woman revealed she had been recently threatened.

"I told her, 'I can't imagine people threatening you with bodily harm and threats,'" Upper West Sider Stephanie Lee told the Times.

Trott's murder marks the third on the Upper West Side this year, according to crime statistics from the NYPD's 20th and 24th precincts. All three murders have occurred within the confines of the 24th Precinct, which spans West 86th Street to West 110th Street.

There were just four murders reported on the Upper West Side in 2017, according to NYPD crime statistics.

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