Closing arguments heard in brutal killing of Westchester social worker who knocked on the wrong door
The trial of a man accused of brutally killing a Westchester County social worker is now in its final chapter.
Haseem Jenkins, 32, is accused of stomping and punching petite social worker Maria Coto after she mistakenly knocked on his door. She suffered catastrophic head injuries from his heavy boots and died five weeks later.
The jury faces the decision: Was it murder or a lesser crime? The top charge is intentional murder. The defense is clearly hoping for a lesser verdict, such as manslaughter.
"What did I do, officer?"
Police bodycam video from May 2024 was front and center in the trial.
"What did I do? What did I do, officer? Officer, can you tell me what I did?" Jenkins can be heard saying on the bodycam video.
Defense attorney Angelo MacDonald argued someone slipped Jenkins a cigarette laced with PCP, and Jenkins lacked intent when he assaulted Coto after she mistakenly knocked on Jenkins' door at a building in Peekskill.
"He says a couple of times 'I blacked out. I blacked out.' Blacked out means you don't know what's going on. No ability to form the intent to do something," MacDonald said.
"Being high is not free rein"
Prosecutor Nadine Nagler forcefully disagreed.
"Being high is not free rein to go out and do whatever you want and say, oh, it wasn't me, it was the PCP, so I guess I can get away with it," Nagler said.
Nagler argued the evidence showed Jenkins regularly used drugs, and the assault was clearly intentional. A possible motive? His mistaken fear Coto would evict him from his Section 8 home.
"And so there's something about that woman that triggered him. Is it because of his issues with Section 8? Does he have a problem with professional women? It doesn't matter. Something about her set him off," Nagler said.
Judge George Fufidio will charge the jury Thursday morning, and deliberations begin after that.