Hamilton Heights Murder Was Building's Third In Past Three Months
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- One building has seen three murders in just three months.
This time, the victim was a mother -- murdered after someone forced open her apartment door.
Police tape sealed the door of the Hamilton Heights apartment where cops said 48-year-old Eloise Liz was viciously stabbed to death around 3:30 Saturday morning.
Neighbor Stephanie Berry woke up to the shocking news.
"All the neighbors were talking, 'did you hear, did you hear what happened?" she said. "And then of course I saw the blood right next to my door, and the building was swarming with police officers."
Dents in the door frame showed where police said 34-year-old suspect Alexander Felix used a crow bar to pry open the door.
Police said he stabbed Liz more than dozen times before running off.
As CBS2's Hazel Sanchez reported, Liz's personal surveillance camera in the hallway captured his getaway.
"If she didn't know him, that's a little more unsettling," Berry said.
Minutes later, police said the suspect showed up at Harlem Hospital with cuts to his hand claiming he was victimized during a robbery.
Doctors called police who arrested him at the hospital.
Police said Felix was wearing the same clothes the suspect was seen wearing in surveillance video from Liz's apartment.
Outside the hospital investigators discovered a trail of blood leading a nearby garbage can where they'd found a backpack carrying a bloody knife and a crow bar.
Police could not confirm if Liz knew her killer.
One neighbor -- who asked not to show her face on camera -- knew Liz well, and said she can't imagine why someone would want the single mother of three dead.
"She was murdered so savagely, and what this is going to do to her children who loved her so dearly. they will never be the same," she said.
It was the third murder to happen in the 153rd Street building since December, when a 23-year-old man confessed to killing his former teacher, and the 4-year-old son they had together in a third floor apartment.
Felix has been charged with second degree murder and burglary, he's being held without bail.
