A police source said the suspect and Victoria
Hammond, pictured, were acquainted but it was
not clear if they were romantically involved.
Lounging across two subway seats landed
Gregory White behind bars — for murder —
Thursday, officials said.
A nine-month search for the man who killed a
58-year-old mother of four in her Coney Island
home ended when the prime suspect was found
stretched out across the seats on an A train
rumbling into the Columbus Circle station in
Midtown, police said.
White, 43, is now facing murder charges in the
Jan. 24 killing of Victoria Hammond — who was
stabbed two dozen times, officials said.
The alleged killer remained on the loose until
2:30 a.m. Thursday when cops found him, his
rump on one seat and his leg and foot stretched
out on the other, a police source said.
Officers were about to give White a summons
for taking up more than one seat — a violation
that comes with a $50 fine — when they
realized he was wanted in Hammond’s murder,
officials said.
White admitted to the grisly crime while being
questioned at the 60th Precinct stationhouse
and was charged with murder, according to
authorities.
Hammond, 58, was found lying partially naked in
the living room of her basement apartment on
W. 37th St. near Neptune Ave., officials said.
Gregory White is arraigned on murder charges in
Brooklyn Criminal Court.
Court papers said she was stabbed in the neck
and chest.
White claimed Hammond came at him with the
knife first during an argument, a police source
said. He said he grabbed the weapon as he tried
to defend himself and ended up stabbing the
woman, whom he had been seeing for about a
month, he said.
Outraged relatives exploded at White’s
arraignment, threatening the defendant and
shouting insults before the judge cleared the
courtroom. White was held without bail.
“Wherever you go, we’re going to get you,”
shouted Jah Hammond, 44, the victim’s son.
White, a resident of East New York, Brooklyn,
was also wanted for not showing up to respond
to a criminal trespassing charge, according to
court papers.
On Jan. 5 — around the time he said he was
dating Hammond — White was arrested after he
was caught on the roof of a NYCHA apartment
building on Bayview Ave. in Coney Island,
officials said.
Investigators hadn’t located White until 2:30 a.m.
Thursday, when he was noticed stretched out on
an A train heading into the Columbus Circle
station, police said.
He received a desk appearance ticket and was
scheduled to appear in court Feb. 26, but never
showed, according to records.
In 2007, White was arrested in New York for a
crime he allegedly committed in Chesterfield,
Va., but the details of the incident were not
immediately disclosed.
The stabbing victim’s three sons were relieved
— and angry.
“Why did he run and hide?” Jah Hammond said
outside the courtroom. “He ran for nine months
and four days. Self-defense? Why didn’t he
report it? He got caught and now he’s trying to
justify it.”
Cops are giving out fewer violations on the
subway, according to NYPD statistics.
Posted by: Philip Ochika