A man identified as a person of interest in the brutal killing of a Manhattan mother, who was beaten to death in front of her 7-year-old daughter, surrendered to police for questioning Saturday, his attorney told The Post.
Tiliek Shamel Thompson, 41, turned himself in at the 33rd Precinct station house in connection with the death of 27-year-old Lovay Williams, attorney Neville Dexter said.
“He’s at the precinct right now,” Dexter said.
Dexter said Thompson had been implicated in the killing in social media posts but urged people not to rush to judgment. “Everybody should reserve judgement. We don’t know what happened,” he said.
The attorney did not disclose how Thompson would plead. A police source confirmed that investigators have designated him a “person of interest.”
Officers discovered Williams’ body after responding to her home on 156th Street near Amsterdam Avenue in Washington Heights for a wellness check shortly after 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 6, police said.
Williams’ brother, Nuquan Williams, said the person responsible for his sister’s death should not be allowed to remain free.
“Man up to the things you did!” said Williams, a state corrections officer. “It was horrific. You don’t deserve to walk the streets and enjoy life when you took a life.”
He confirmed that his niece, De’lani, was inside the home when her mother’s remains were found, but said the 7-year-old appeared to be coping well so far.
“We’ve been buying her toys and things like that,” the uncle said. “I don’t think she’s emotionally intelligent enough to process what’s actually going on yet, being that she’s so young.”
De’lani is a “loving spirit” who has continued going to school and “doing what she has to do,” he said.
“She’s holding up strong,” he said. “She hasn’t freaked out or anything like that. She’s such a sweet girl.”
He described his sister as “one in a million.”
“She was the best mom, and no one could ever compare to her,” he said. “This is such a big loss for us.”
Asia Walker, who described herself as the victim’s “God sister,” cried while attaching green balloons to an ad hoc memorial site next to the apartment building where she was killed.
“Turning himself in would be the best thing for me,” the 33-year-old said. “Honestly, I know we ain’t gotta worry about him hurting nobody else and my niece can be at ease. Tomorrow will be a little better for me. I could sleep at night.”
She wasn’t sure how the two met, she said, but they had been together “for a while.”
“It’s confusing to me because we knew this man for too long,” Walker said. “I don’t even know what caused this. I can’t remember (her) saying they even argued before.”
The family has created a GoFundMe page to raise money for the girl.
