95-Year-Old Woman Charged in the Beating Death of Nursing Home Roommate

A New York nursing home resident has been arrested, following the beating death of her roommate.

On Friday, law enforcement took Galina Smirnova, 95, to Rikers Island jail for allegedly beating her roommate, Nina Kravtsov, 89, to death with the footrest pedal from a wheelchair, according to USA Today.

As CrimeOnline previously reported, the victim got into an argument with Smirnova at Seagate Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Brooklyn.

Smirnova is believed to have struck the victim in the head with a piece of metal from a wheelchair, leading to her death, according to the New York Daily News.

USA Today reported that Smirnova is being held without bond, according to New York City court records. She is being charged with second-degree murder and possession of a criminal weapon.

The arrest affidavit indicated that on September 14, someone made a 911 call from the nursing home just before 10:30 p.m., after Kravtsov was found in her bed with head trauma.

According to staff, Kravtsov and Smirnova were checked on just before 9 p.m. with no incidents listed. 

Approximately an hour later, another welfare check was conducted, and that is when Kravtsov was found in her bed, covered in blood, “with gash marks about her face and head.”

Krovtsov’s roommate, Smirnov, was found washing her hands in the room’s shared bathroom, covered in blood. A staff member told officers that she saw a bloody wheelchair footrest pedal on the floor of the room.

Krovtsov was pronounced dead at the hospital the next day. The affidavit showed she died of blunt force trauma.

Police have not released a motive.

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[Feature Photo: Pixabay]

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