Aunt Wanted Her Niece Out of Apartment — Then She Was Beaten to Death with Hammer and Left in Bathtub

A New York City woman has admitted to fatally striking her aunt over the head with a hammer during an argument at their Manhattan apartment.

Kristie Miro, 34, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on Sept. 25 in connection with the death of her aunt, Ana Nieves, 56, in February 2022, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement.

Under the terms of her plea, she is expected to be sentenced on November 12 to 16 years-to-life in state prison, Bragg said in the release.

“Kristie Miro committed a brutal and deadly act of family violence that took her aunt’s life,” Bragg said in the statement. “Losing any loved one to violence is incredibly painful, and unimaginable at the hands of another family member. I hope this measure of accountability can bring some comfort to Ms. Nieves’ loved ones, who continue to endure the effects of this senseless tragedy.” 

The crime unfolded when Miro was living with her aunt at her apartment building in East Harlem.

At about 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 9, 2022, Miro’s cousin came to the apartment and found Miro “visibly upset and holding a hammer,” Bragg said in the statement.

She told her cousin that her girlfriend had broken up with her and that her aunt wanted her to move out of the apartment.

Later that night, Miro’s cousin and Nieves left the apartment to attend a party together. Early the next morning, Miro’s cousin and Nieves left the party separately. 

Miro’s cousin tried throughout the day to get in touch with Nieves, who did not respond to calls or texts.

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When the cousin’s friends went to Nieves’ apartment to check on her, Miro told them her aunt wasn’t home.

Separately, a building resident requested police conduct a wellness check. At 4 p.m. that day, officers visited Nieves’ apartment and spoke to Miro, who still insisted her aunt was out.

When officers eventually got into the apartment, they found Nieves dead in her bathtub, in blood-covered clothing she wore to the party.

Nieves’ violent murder upset her entire family.

“I’m completely numb and I’m hurting. I went to church today and cried it out because I just can’t get in my mind why her. She would give you her last,” Nieves’ sister, Lucy Nieves, then 52, told the New York Daily News at the time.

“What’s the worst thing about it?” she asked. “It’s family. How do you swallow that pill?”

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.