Julio Aponte Washington Heights man beats wife, Maria Kelly to death with crowbar at bus stop after accusing her of cheating on him video shows. Woman fatally succumbs to injuries 4 days after savage attack. Murder charges expected.
A NYC woman has died days after horrific video (see below) captured the moment her enraged husband mercilessly beat her with a crowbar at a Washington Heights bus stop as bystanders pleaded with the man to desist as he continued to scream, ‘how dare you cheat on me.’
The victim, Maria Kelly, 49, died Friday, four days after the attack at the corner of Fort Washington Avenue and West 163rd Street.
Her husband Julio Aponte, 63, was initially charged with attempted murder and assault, but he is now expected to be charged with murder.
Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Levinson said the Washington Heights man waited for Kelly outside their building and began battering her in the head with a crowbar once she walked out ‘even after she laid unconscious on the ground.’
The gruesome attack took place at 7am Monday, June 14 as bystander cellphone video captured the horrific attack unfold at the bus stop as Aponte yelled ‘How dare you cheat on me?’
‘How dare you cheat on me?’
Aponte, wearing a black hoodie and black pants, is seen straddling his wife, who was lying beneath him on the pavement.
He repeatedly bashed her head with a crowbar covered with a plastic bag, making a loud banging sound.
Bystanders screamed for the man to stop, only for the incensed husband to continued the assault.
He struck Kelly, a mother of two and school aide, three times in the video.
With her sprawled out lifeless on the curb, Aponte then threw the bag under the bus stop bench, making a clanking sound.
Aponte then stood up, slowly, tossed a backpack aside and stood beside her, gesturing with both arms as he continued to shout at his apparently unconscious wife.
Bystanders gasped in horror, yelled, videotaped him and called 911.
Confesses to violent beating
Aponte lingered for a few more seconds before stepping away.
He fled on a motorcycle then was arrested nearby a few minutes later, police said.
Aponte later dumped the motorcycle and told a parking attendant prior to his arrest that he had killed his wife, according to the nypost.
The parking attendant reportedly urged Aponte to call the police.
He eventually called 911 and confessed to killing his wife because she had cheated on him, police said.
Officers found his wife on the ground, unconscious and with severe head trauma.
Prior history of domestic violence
Kelly was taken by ambulance to Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center where she went into cardiac arrest due to her injuries and later died.
Aponte’s charges could possibly be upgraded to murder, which would be handled by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
The nydailynews reports Aponte not having a prior arrest record and police never responded to the couple’s home for any arguments.
Prosecutors allege Aponte having a history of violence towards women; in a previous marriage in the Dominican Republic, he stalked his wife, threatened her on multiple occasions, and once went after her with an ax, prosecutors said.
The couple’s neighbors told the nydailynews that Aponte was a heavy drinker, while Kelly was a devoted mother to a teenage son.
