On April 21, 2021, about 1 p.m., 51-year-old Nichelle Thomas was shot in the head on Fourth Avenue at St. Marks Place in Park Slope, Brooklyn, as she was entering a corner deli. Surveillance video reportedly shows a woman running up behind Thomas and firing the fatal shot. Emergency services transported her to a nearby hospital, where she died of her injuries.

The suspect was identified as 38-year-old Latisha Bell of the Bronx, described as Thomas’s ex-girlfriend. They had been in an on-and-off relationship with documented domestic violence issues. Bell allegedly turned herself in to the 78th Precinct hours after the shooting, confessed, and told officers the gun was in her bag; police recovered a .38 caliber revolver. Bell was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon and was arraigned and held without bail.

Thomas was a mother of two, a grandmother, active in her church and pursuing a graduate degree to become a social worker. Does anyone have information about Thomas’s life in Park Slope or the relationship that could help explain what led to this killing?