Possible motive revealed in Brooklyn mom's brutal slaying

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. - A possible motive has been revealed in the brutal murder and dismemberment of a Brooklyn woman, reports CBS New York. A criminal complaint reveals the victim in the case, a mother of four, may have been decapitated while she was still alive.

Leah Cuevas, also of Brooklyn, faced a judge Thursday and pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, according to the station. The 42-year-old is charged with killing a 27-year-old Chinelle Latoya Thompson Browne and scattering her severed body parts around Long Island earlier this month.

Police said Cuevas - who was ordered held without bail - had been misrepresenting herself as the landlord of the Brooklyn apartment where the victim lived. Investigators told CBS New York Cuevas was not the landlord, but had forged the deed for the property, naming herself the owner after the real owner died. They said Cuevas was sent into a violent rage and attacked Browne when she threatened to expose Cuevas. Neighbors reported hearing the two women fighting about unpaid rent and utilities.

The alleged attack is believed to have taken place at the suspect's apartment, sources told the station.

CBS New York reports an autopsy determined Browne died of "homicidal violence," including stabbing and incise wounds. Assistant District Attorney Robert Biancavilla said Browne's blood was found in Cueva's apartment and in a hallway of the apartment building.

The victim's dismembered torso was found July 8 in a parking lot in Bay Shore, Long Island. Not long after that discovery, two severed arms were found a day apart in the yards of two Long Island homes in Hempstead, authorities said.

On July 17, a severed head was discovered in front of a row of bushes outside another home in Hempstead, according to Biancavilla.

The station reports the criminal complaint in the case alleges Cuevas stabbed Browne multiple times in the neck and torso, then decapitated the victim while she was still alive.

Police and federal authorities used DNA and tattoos to identify the remains, according to CBS New York. Authorities have said the investigation remains active, and Biancavilla did not say whether a murder weapon had been recovered.

The prosecutor said that Browne was witnessed entering Cuevas's apartment on the day of the alleged killing. Not long after, someone reported hearing Browne scream, "Oh no, oh no. I'm sorry, I'm sorry." The witness said she then heard Cuevas yell an expletive and tell Browne to "shut up."

Browne was an immigrant from Guyana, the station reports. Her children and husband still reside in the country, and her family was in court Thursday.

"She was a wonderful person. The best person you would ever want to meet - very loving, very kind, very gentle," Browne's aunt, Pauline Claxton, told CBS New York.

"I don't think I can script my emotions to you. It's surreal," said Dale Browne, Chinelle's husband. "Every time I talk with my children, they give me memories of their mother."

Browne's family said they want to know whether Cuevas acted alone. If convicted, the suspect faces life in prison.