According to reports, the Brooklyn man who is accused of killing his ex-girlfriend last week as she returned home from working at an IHOP in Manhattan had been watching her for hours prior to the execution-style slaying.
Imani Armstrong, 25, was waiting for Clarkson Wilson, 44, who has a long criminal history, to pace in front of the IHOP on East 14th Street on Thursday. He did so for five hours until she left the restaurant at around five in the morning, at which point he started following her.
Then, according to Assistant District Attorney Samantha Levitz, Wilson approached Armstrong on the corner of East 14th Street and Irving Place and shot her in the back of the head. This was claimed during his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court on Sunday.
Wilson appeared emotionless before Judge Abraham Clott as he was told to be held without bail while donning the same “Street Fighter” video game T-shirt that he was wearing when he was arrested.
Wilson and Armstrong are thought to have argued at home before they were fatally shot.
According to the New York Daily News, the murder marked the second homicide in the 13th Precinct in as few as two days.
Imani Armstrong, 25, was reportedly shot and killed by Clarkson Wilson, 44, last week. Wilson, who has more than 20 charges on his record, was ordered to be kept without release when he made an appearance in court on Sunday.
Armstrong, an exotic dancer and employee of IHOP, was shot and killed last week as she was returning home from the restaurant.
The murder took place on Irving Place, shockingly close to a few busy centers of NYC’s East Village, including the NYU University Hall dorms and Union Square, which has one of the busiest subway stations in the city.
Imani Armstrong, a mother of three, was fatally shot in the head early on Thursday morning on a street corner close to Union Square, according to the New York Post. Wilson, who is the father of one of Armstrong’s children, was brought into jail on Saturday.
According to Levitz, video evidence purports to depict the murderous sequence, which ended with Wilson escaping into a subway station, changing into new clothing, and boarding a train to Brooklyn.
Wilson was wearing both the clothes he wore before the shooting and the clothes he wore after changing when investigators searched his home and discovered two weapons in a safe.
Levitz said that Wilson is a flight risk and has money during his arraignment on Sunday after social media posts showed him with a sizable sum of cash and marijuana. Wilson also acknowledged selling the substance.
According to police sources who spoke to the Daily News, Wilson has a lengthy criminal past that includes eight arrests, the most recent of which involved a strangulation case. In 2000, he was also found guilty of attempted robbery and sentenced to three years in jail.
The Post was informed by sources that Wilson had at least four accusations against him for alleged domestic abuse dating back to 2014; however, it is still unknown whether Armstrong filed any of the complaints.
According to one allegation from April 2021, a lady claimed Wilson choked her following a disagreement.
Another complaint in September 2014 was filed by Wilson’s ex-wife, sources told the Post, who claimed he choked her and pushed her into the wall after grabbing her phone.
Police said the investigation was ongoing as they question Wilson over the murder of Armstrong.
Armstrong, an exotic dancer and employee of IHOP, was shot and killed while she was returning home from the restaurant.
Wilson is said to be the father of one of the victim’s three children, according to police sources. Photographed with two of her children at Christmas is Armstrong (left).
Following the tragic murder at Union Square Park, witnesses saw Armstrong’s body being carried onto a gurney, covered firmly in a black body bag, and fastened with straps.
She was reportedly returning home on foot from IHOP in Gramercy Park, New York City (see image).
Around 5 a.m. on Thursday, police received a 911 call and arrived to find the victim shot in the head and unresponsive.
Near the intersection of East 14th Street and Irving Place, the NYPD Crime Scene Unit hastily built a tent to conceal the body from curious bystanders.
Manny, a street seller, claimed to have been “cooking” when he “heard a huge boom.”
“Oh s**t, what was that?” I exclaimed. I mistook the crash for one involving a car or a truck. He added, “I ran outside and noticed the lady on the pavement.
He claimed he did not hear ‘any commotion’ prior to the shooting.
New York’s crime rate has increased by 35% as random attacks in the Big Apple continue.
It was the second homicide in the 13th precinct of New York in as many days after Jamal Burton, a 38-year-old East New Yorker, was fatally stabbed close to Chelsea.
According to reports, Burton and his murderer got into a fight. As a result of the conflict, Burton’s murderer repeatedly stabbed him in the chest, killing him.
While murders and shootings have decreased significantly, major crime in NYC has increased by around 36% since this time last year.
Rapes increased 10 percent, from 892 to 989, and felonious assaults were up 19.5 percent, from 13,086 to 15,640, statistics from the NYPD show.