Dead Woman Found with Stab Wounds in New York’s Central Park Identified

As reported over the weekend, a woman in her 60s was found dead with multiple stab wounds and trauma to the head in Central Park on Sunday.

The victim was found in a gazebo near Central Park’s Boathouse, according to The New York Post.

On Monday it was reported that a suspect, a homeless man, was arrested and charged with murder.

“Police arrested Jonathan Robles, 36, Sunday night and charged him with murder and criminal possession of a weapon. Authorities said Robles is a resident of the Barbour Hotel, a Midtown homeless shelter. He later surrendered to detectives and was being evaluated at a hospital ahead of an expected arraignment,” ABC 7 reported.

According to The New York Post, the victim was identified as a homeless artist named Lee Rogers.

Lee Rogers painted birds of Central Park and was known to the community.

The New York Times previously profiled Lee Rogers.

According to The Post, Lee Rogers and Jonathan Robles got into an argument before it escalated to violence.

The New York Post reported:

A beloved homeless artist famed for painting the birds of Central Park was the woman found viciously murdered in a gazebo near the park’s boathouse, The Post has learned.

Lee Rogers, 63, who buoyantly peddled intricate wildlife watercolors during her years of sleeping rough in the wooded Manhattan haven, died after being bludgeoned by a stick-wielding madman Sunday, law-enforcement sources said.

“She was like the Grandma Moses of Central Park,” said Robert DeCandido, a nature walk guide, referring to the 1950s American folk painter.

“When she did the bird feeders, the birders loved her. They would buy her artwork in the park,” DeCandido, who goes by “Birding Bob,” told The Post on Monday.

Sources said Rogers and Robles got into some type of argument that escalated into violence, although the details were unclear.