A disabled man was found bludgeoned to death next to a shovel in his New York City apartment on Thursday in what could have been the result of a fight over rent money, the New York Daily News has learned.
Elvin Ramirez, 63, was found bleeding profusely by relatives in his Bronx apartment at 6 p.m., police told the newspaper.
"There was blood all over and a pile of clothes on his body. He was face up, his head was bleeding like hell," Junior Gonzalez, the victim's cousin, told the Daily News. "There was a shovel next to his head, it was the weapon."
As of Friday it is not clear if the shovel is in fact the murder weapon.
Ramirez's family said the victim and his roommate of almost three months, identified only as Armando, argued the previous night.
"They were fighting. Elvin was throwing him out. He wasn't paying rent," Gonzalez told the newspaper.
Another witness says the roommates got into a drunken brawl at a restaurant on the ground level of the Grand Concourse building they lived in.
Armando was a delivery man at the restaurant, Taco Puebla, according to the Daily News.
"I sent Armando home because he had to work for me [Thursday]," said Francisco Castelan, the owner. "He hadn't shown by 1 o'clock, so I started calling their apartment but there was no answer."
Armando was not at the apartment when Ramirez was found and police are searching for him.
