Jacqueline Billini, 57, was a longtime New York State court employee and is described by friends as kind and devoted to her three pit bulls. She had been living in fear after a sustained, escalating dispute with a neighbor over the dogs. Friends say that earlier in the year the neighbor stabbed one of her dogs, Zeus, and on April 11 he allegedly forced his way into her apartment, breaking her arm and swinging a hammer at someone who tried to intervene.

On the evening of September 29, 2023, Billini was walking Zeus in Washington Heights with a friend, 42-year-old Levaughn Harvin, who had begun accompanying her for protection. An assailant approached from behind near West 165th Street and Edgecombe Avenue and fired more than a dozen shots, killing Billini, Harvin, and Zeus. The suspect fled the scene, and law enforcement later located and arrested him after a manhunt.

There is significant documentation of the prior threats and violence between neighbors, and an order of protection had been issued after the April incident. Does anyone in Washington Heights remember the earlier incidents or have information about interactions between Billini and her neighbor?