- Nikki Secondino, a 22-year-old trans woman, has been charged with the murder of her father, 61-year-old Carlo Secondino
- They were initially being suspected of covering up the crime by claiming it was a home invasion
- Nikki was also charged with attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon in connection to the attack
- Secondino’s 19-year-old sister is in critical condition at Maimonides Hospital.
- Nikki Secondino was suspected of fabricating the story of the break-in to conceal her own alleged involvement in the crime
By ALYSSA GUZMAN and JAMES GORDON FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 22:14 EST, 29 December 2022 | UPDATED: 02:11 EST, 30 December 2022.
Nikki Secondino, a 22-year-old transgender woman, has been charged with the murder of their father, Carlo Secondino, 61, who was killed in a stabbing at the family home in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.
Secondino has also been charged with attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon in connection to the attack, which left their 19-year-old sister in critical condition at Maimonides Hospital.
Initially, police suspected that the incident was connected to a home invasion, but it was later revealed that Nikki may have fabricated the entire story in an attempt to cover up their involvement in the crime.
Secondino smirked but ignored questions as detectives escorted her from Brooklyn’s 62nd Precinct Thursday night.
Nikki Secondino, the transgender daughter of Carlo Secondino, is seen in an Instagram photo.
A neighbor of the Secondinos also claimed to have heard Nikki making a phone call after the stabbing, in which they claimed that the family had been robbed by home invaders who also stabbed them.
Carlo was pronounced dead at the scene and his daughter was rushed to Maimonides Medical Center, just days ahead of her 20th birthday, according to the New York Daily News.
It was originally reported two male robbers broke into the home on 17th Avenue, around 6am and demanded money from a safe, according to police, before they attacked the family of three and fled on foot.
However, police now believe that Nikki was responsible for the attack.
Nikki Secondino suffered slash wounds to the hands and was hospitalized in stable condition.
Neighbors described a horrific scene: ‘I heard like wrestling, fighting,’ said the neighbor. ‘I did hear the father. He pleaded to me ‘Please call the cops!’ … The front of his chest right there, it was saturated in red like he was wearing a red vest,’ said one neighbor to the New York Daily News.
Another woman described how Nikki banged on her door to get in.
”Oh my god! Oh my god! Open up the door!” she recalled her screaming. ‘I saw the blood in the hallway so I immediately closed my door and I didn’t want to get involved.’
‘He was just like lying there. His head was facing towards the window, the kitchen window. He was face up lying on his back,’ the neighbor recalled.
‘Every time when they argue there was banging. Because the walls are just sheetrock, I would hear everything.’
According to police sources, Nikki initially claimed that two men, one white and one black, dressed in black clothing, had committed the crime and fled the scene. However, further investigation revealed inconsistencies in her story.
The window inside the home appeared to have been broken from the inside, contradicting the idea of a robbery gone wrong.
In addition, there was no sign of forced entry into the apartment, and no video surveillance was found to support the account of a home invasion.
Moreover, Nikki had cuts on her hand that were consistent with a knife slipping while being used, and no large amount of cash or drugs were found at the crime scene.
The victims of the crime also had no criminal records. As a result of such findings, Nikki became a suspect in the case.