NEW YORK, Dec. 17, CMC – A Trinidadian woman in Brooklyn has been convicted of stabbing her Guyanese-born neighbor to death, cutting her into pieces and dumping the body parts in Hempstead and Bay Shore in Long Island in July 2014.
On Tuesday, jurors in Riverhead, Long Island, took a few hours to convict Leah Cuevas, 44, of second-degree murder in the death of Chinelle Latoya Thompson Browne, 28, whose body parts were found on four separate days, according to New York’s Newsday.
Prosecutors said Cuevas killed Thompson Browne in a dispute over rent and utility payments. Browne was renting a room from Cuevas.
CBS news reported that some of Browne’s remains were found in an abandoned lot in Bay Shore.
Her head and arms were found days later in three different locations about 25 miles west in Hempstead, Long Island.
Trial testimony detailed the discovery of Browne’s blood inside Cuevas’ Brooklyn apartment. Prosecutors say Cuevas stabbed Browne 39 times.
According to neighbors, Browne had gotten into a fight with Cuevas just before she went missing.
Cuevas who will be sentenced on January 14, faces 25 years to life in prison .