NYC Caretaker Charged In Bizarre Killing Of Elderly Man: Report

New York City NY

30 November, 2021

10:42 AM

Description

NEW YORK CITY — A home health aide is accused of beating an elderly Staten Island man in her care to death and writing a message on his chest: "I touch little girls." A months-long probe into the death of Robert Raynor, 80, apparently culminated Monday with the arrest of his caretaker, Rene Ayarde, 28, the New York Daily News reported. Ayarde faces a slew of criminal charges, including murder, according to the Daily News. The bizarre killing of Raynor in July raised eyebrows and suspicions toward Ayarde, who lived and worked in his home with her daughter. In addition to the words "I touch little girls" written on Raynor's chest, the Daily News reported that the words, "I take dolls in my room for girls age 1-5" were written on his stomach in black ink and that "I touch" was written on his foot. A medical examiner's spokesperson at the time told Patch that Raynor's cause of death was blunt trauma to the head and torso. The death was ruled a homicide. But if Ayarde faced suspicions, she didn't immediately face charges in the death. Instead, she found herself facing a different set of charges — child abuse — in the wake of Raynor's death. The Daily News reported she stood accused of dropping her daughter onto the concrete and dragging her along the street on the Lower East Side.