A dispute over unpaid rent in the Bronx allegedly escalated into a fatal attack on Saturday, leaving a 30-year-old man dead and his landlord and the landlord’s half-brother facing criminal charges, according to police and law enforcement sources.
Kristopher Samaroo was retrieving his mail outside his Throggs Neck Expressway home around 6 p.m. when he was confronted by his landlord, 43-year-old Omar Lamoni. Witnesses and authorities say the confrontation quickly turned violent.
According to police, Lamoni was accompanied by his half-brother, Edwin Nina, 39. The argument over the alleged overdue rent spiraled into a physical altercation. Witnesses reported seeing Nina retrieve a metal baseball bat from the trunk of his car and attack Samaroo.
“My husband went out to get the mail, and suddenly this man [Nina] comes up the steps with a steel bat,” Samaroo’s fiancée, Brittney Shears, told reporters. “He started swinging, and my husband tried to defend himself. They ended up fighting on the ground.”
Shears alleged that Lamoni joined in the assault, escalating the violence. “They keep saying we’re not paying rent, but that’s not true,” she added. “We’ve been making partial payments, and they’ve been shutting off our hot water as retaliation.”
The attack occurred in the presence of a child, according to police sources. Despite his injuries, Samaroo managed to get back into the house, where Shears called 911.
When officers arrived, they found Samaroo with multiple injuries described as “trauma about the body.” He was rushed to NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi but succumbed to his wounds, police said.
Both Lamoni and Nina were taken into custody Saturday night. Lamoni has been charged with second-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child, while Nina faces charges of second-degree assault and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
Authorities have indicated that additional charges may be forthcoming as the investigation continues.
Police have not yet released further details about the dispute or confirmed whether prior complaints had been filed regarding the landlord-tenant relationship. The NYPD has urged anyone with information about the incident to come forward.
