CRIME
Murder, Arson Charges in Grisly East Harlem Slaying
Queens suspect alleged to have killed man described as “boyfriend,” beat cops at scene
BY MATT TRACY
A 31-year-old went on a
rampage against a man
who may have been his
boyfriend in a horrifying
fatal stabbing attack that also
involved an apartment fi re and
assaults on police offi cers who responded
to the case, according to
the NYPD.
Cops were responding to a residential
fi re inside unit 9G at the
Acacia Gardens affordable housing
development at 409 East 120th
Street in Harlem shortly before
4:30 on May 16 when they said
they were confronted by 31-yearold
man, Aljo Mrkulic, who refused
to let them into the apartment
where the fi re was located.
Instead, Mrkulic, who lives at
14-48 31st Road in Queens, was
“combative” toward police offi cers
and fought them, cops said. After
FDNY fi refi ghters extinguished
the fl ames, the apartment’s tenant,
later identifi ed as 30-year-old
Christopher Rodriguez, was found
with multiple stab wounds “about
the body” and was pronounced
dead at the scene. Cops would not
shed light on the nature of the stab
wounds, but the New York Post
reported that sources described
Rodriguez’s testicles as “mangled”
and his stomach “partially cut
open.”
The stabbing was captured on
surveillance video, according to
the Post, which reported that the
police report states that footage
FDNY RESPONSE VIDEO shows Mrkulic dragging Rodriguez
NYPD and FDNY offi cers trying to subdue a naked Aljo Mrkulic and put him on a stretcher after hauling
him out of a building where Christopher Rodriguez was later found to have been brutally slain.
➤ EAST HARLEM MURDER, continued on p.21
Man Charged With Killing Trans Woman in Missouri
Authorities nab suspect weeks after fatal stabbing based on people coming forward
BY MATT TRACY
Police have arrested a
suspect in the murder
case of 28-year-old
Nina Pop, a transgender
woman who was found stabbed to
death in her apartment on May 3
in southeast Missouri.
Joseph B. Cannon, 40, was
busted on May 15 and slapped
with charges of second-degree
murder and armed criminal action
in connection to Pop’s death at her
apartment in Sikeston, according
to local news outlet KFVS 12.
Sikeston’s police chief, James
McMillen, announced on May 15
that “several people came forth,
offering information,” which ultimately
helped police track down a
suspect.
A spokesperson for the Sikeston
Police Department did not return
phone calls seeking comment
about the case by the afternoon of
May 20. Cannon continues to be held in custody and is not permit- ted to seek bond.
Authorities announced early in
the investigation that they were
seeking to determine whether
the murder was a hate-motivated
crime, but no further details have
emerged about that.
Frustratingly, Sikeston authorities
initially deadnamed Pop and
KFVS 12 also proceeded to mention
her dead name, even after
establishing the name with which
she identifi ed.
Pop is the second transgender
person in as many years to be
murdered in the state of Missouri.
Last June, 32-year-old Brooklyn
Lindsey was found dead in Kansas
City and a man was subsequently
charged in that case.
Pop was at least the 10th transgender
person to be murdered in the
US this year. The Human Rights
Campaign counted 11 transgender
or gender non-conforming people
who have suffered violent deaths
so far in 2020 after counting 26
such homicides last year.
FACEBOOK/ NINA POP
Nina Pop, 28, was found dead with stab wounds in her southeast Missouri apartment on May 3.
May 21 - June 05, 2 20 020 | GayCityNews.com
/GayCityNews.com
