Son Charged in Bronx Mother's Killing

Murder, manslaughter, and a weapon count can sit together on one arrest while prosecutors decide what they can prove. A 911 call and a death at the hospital open the file. They are not a trial record, and no court date has been announced.

A 43-year-old man was charged with murder after his mother was stabbed to death inside her Bronx apartment, police said.

Officers from the 52nd Precinct went to 16 East 208th Street in Norwood at about 10:13 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 9, after a 911 call reporting an assault. They found Annie Nesmith, 61, with stab wounds to her neck and body. Medics took her to St. Barnabas Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Police arrested her son, Martin Thomas, at 1:44 a.m. Tuesday. He was charged with murder, manslaughter, and criminal possession of a weapon. Investigators said he does not live in the building. They had not announced a motive by Tuesday afternoon, and the investigation was still open.

A neighbor who has lived in the building for years said Nesmith had worked as a poll worker and was last seen around the election. Friends who stopped by the address described her as someone who helped look after family. Those accounts are how neighbors remembered her. They do not explain the stabbing.

The charges are the accusation on the arrest paperwork. Police asked anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.

Thomas was questioned at the 52nd Precinct stationhouse before the charges were entered early Tuesday. Officers were still at the East 208th Street building later in the day. Police have not described the weapon beyond the possession count, and they have not said what led to the assault. A neighbor, Victor Dempsey, said Nesmith had lived in the building for more than 20 years. He last saw her during the election, working as a poll worker at a school. "She was a good woman," he said.

All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.