GRAND JURY FILES FIRST DEGREE MURDER CHARGES AGAINST TWO YOUNG WOMEN IN THE BRUTAL KILLING OF A 91-YEAR-OLD ROBBERY VICTIM

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that a grand jury has indicted two young women on murder charges and other offenses in the death of a 91-year-old woman in January 2003.

Sparkle Daniel, 22, and Nadine Panton, 31, were indicted on one count of Murder in the 1st degree, one count of Murder in the 2nd degree, and one count each of Robbery in the 1st and 2nd degrees. If convicted of the top count in the indictment, Murder in the 1st degree, the defendants would be facing a maximum sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Both Daniel, of 216 Malcolm X Boulevard, Brooklyn, and Panton, of 3455 Fish Avenue, the Bronx, are being held without bail. They are to be arraigned on the indictment on Tuesday, October 2, 2007 in State Supreme Court, Part A.

It is alleged in court papers that Daniel and Panton murdered Nellie Hocutt after forcing her to sit in a chair where the victim’s legs and body were bound to the chair with “movers’ tape” and a telephone cord. The elderly woman was forced to drink a bottle of wine before a cloth gag was placed in her mouth. The defendants allegedly covered the victim’s head with a plastic bag and secured it by tying a scarf around her neck. The medical examiner determined that asphyxiation was the cause of death. It is also alleged that before leaving the crime scene, Daniel and Panton took cash, jewelry, several household items and several bottles of liquor. The murder occurred on January 10, 2003 at the victim’s residence on Laconia Avenue in the Baychester section of the Bronx.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Christine Scaccia.