An 85-year-old woman was fatally stabbed inside her Brooklyn home late Tuesday night, police said, and detectives are focusing on her grandson as a potential suspect.
Officers responded to a 911 call from a building on the corner of Throop Avenue and Decatur Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant around 10 p.m. Tuesday and found Julia Boomer with multiple stab wounds, according to police. Her daughter had discovered her and called 911, officials said.
Paramedics took Boomer in critical condition to Kings County Hospital, where she died a short time later, the NYPD said.
Police said they took Boomer’s 22-year-old grandson into custody hours after the incident, though his charges were still pending by Wednesday afternoon. Officials were looking into the possibility that he stabbed her during a psychotic episode.
Police said his mother had earlier tried to take him to a custody hearing about his child, but he was acting erratically and never made it. The attack on Boomer happened after the two returned home, officials said, noting they are still investigating the details.
Ali Mohamed, who owns the building and a bodega on the first floor, said Boomer shared the third-floor apartment with several relatives who would often come into the bodega to buy food. He said he didn’t know anything was amiss late Tuesday until police asked him to let them inside the building.
“I feel very bad,” Mohamed said. “A family should protect the older person.”
Boomer’s death is the first homicide this year in the 79th Precinct, which includes Bed-Stuy, according to NYPD data. Homicides in the precinct remained level in 2024 and 2025, with eight reported in each year. Citywide, they fell more than 20% year over year, police said.
This is a developing story based on preliminary information from police and has been updated with additional information.
