Police said Monday that a woman has been charged with murder in connection with a 2021 arson fire in a Queens apartment, after previously being arrested for assault and anti-Asian slurs.
Tandika Wright is accused of killing 49-year-old Lavina Nolley on December 9, 2021, at the NYCHA Queensbridge Houses in Long Island City.
Wright, 36, allegedly slashed the victim several times before setting fire to the 12th St. apartment.
Wright was accused in January of punching her boyfriend and assaulting him with a table, resulting in a cut on his elbow.(Photo: New York Daily News)
Police initially believed Nolley had committed suicide, but an autopsy revealed she had been repeatedly slashed by someone before the fire was started. Smoke inhalation was the cause of death.
Although neither the victim nor the suspect lived in the apartment, Nolley was one of many people who frequented it, according to neighbors. According to a police source, the victim and suspect appear to be drug users, and the murder appears to be drug-related.
The suspect was apprehended on Friday and charged with murder, manslaughter, assault, and arson the following day in Queens Criminal Court. She was detained without bail.
Wright was arrested in Manhattan in January for aggravated harassment after allegedly punching, spitting at, and yelling slurs at an Asian man.
“Wait, are you a ch—k?” ” she allegedly inquired of the victim. “You brought the virus here.” My people were killed by your people. “Get the virus off of me.”
Wright pleaded guilty to aggravated harassment in May and was sentenced to 60 days in prison.
Nolley was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital-Queens after the fire, where she died. The apartment where she was murdered had received numerous complaints from nearby residents.
Locals who spoke to the Daily News after the fire identified the victim as Sweets, who lived in a nearby hotel-turned-homeless shelter.
“She was a nice lady going through a lot of hard stuff with a drug addiction,” a neighbor identified as Fly Mega, 47, said. “She was adored by all.”
Along with the anti-Asian attack, Wright was accused in January of punching her boyfriend and assaulting him with a table, resulting in a cut on his elbow. The assault case is still pending in Brooklyn court.
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