Nursing home murder: 95-year-old woman accused of killing 89-year-old roommate

BROOKLYN - A 95-year-old woman is being charged with murder after her nursing home roommate was found dead Sunday night. 

What we know:

Authorities say the attack happened inside a third-floor room at the Seagate Rehabilitation and Nursing Center on West 29th Street in Coney Island.

According to a criminal complaint filed by the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office, a nurse told police they checked on 89-year-old Nina Kravtsov around 9:30 p.m. and found her asleep. 

The nurse said when she returned about an hour later, she found Kravtsov covered in blood and unresponsive in her bed.

She was apparently found with gash marks on her face.

Nurse finds woman, 90, washing blood off her hands

Court documents say the nurse found the victim’s roommate, 95-year-old Galina Smirnova, in the bathroom of the shared room, washing blood off her hands and clothing. 

Investigators noted that Smirnova’s hospital gown and legs were stained with blood.

The backstory:

Officials say a wheelchair pedal is being looked into as a possible murder weapon. 

One of the pedals, covered in blood, was reportedly thrown out a third-floor window and later recovered by police.

Dig deeper:

Kravtsov, 89, was a Holocaust survivor from Ukraine according to reporting from the New York Post.

95-year-old charged with murder

Smirnova has been charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon. She was transferred to Bellevue Hospital for evaluation and is due back in court later this month.

Families with loved ones at the nursing home expressed shock and fear.

"I was terrified. I didn’t know what to think, actually," one woman told FOX 5 NY. "The first thing I did was call and make sure my mom was okay and that nobody else got hurt."

Another man who visits his wife daily said, "It’s terrible. Terrible. I came to see my wife, and she asked me what happened. I just told her, yeah, I saw everything in the news."

The investigation remains ongoing.