SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - A Syracuse woman has been charged in the death of a 93-year-old woman whose body was found decomposing inside an apartment complex last week.
Victoria Afet, 23, pleaded not guilty Thursday to first-degree murder in the death of retired teacher Connie Tuori, Syracuse.com reports. A message was sent to Afet’s attorney seeking comment.
Surveillance footage shows Afet following the woman into her home at the Skyline Apartments on Feb. 26 and walking out of the apartment two hours later, police said.
Tuori had been dead nearly three weeks before police went to the apartment at the behest of her family to check on her, authorities said. The woman’s body was decomposed by then, and it took days for authorities to confirm her identity.
“I just kind of got sad thinking about it,” Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick told reporters.
Fitzpatrick described Tuori’s death as “heartbreaking to the point that I can’t express it in words.”
An avid traveler, Tuori had taught in Syracuse, California, Italy and Turkey and visited all seven continents.
Afet was already in jail on unrelated charges and previously had been accused of robbing a 74-year-old woman - and biting her hand - at the same apartment complex.
Syracuse.com reports police have been called to the Skyline Apartments more than 527 times since Sept. 1, averaging nearly three calls a day.
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