An ex-con was charged with murder after dumping a woman’s body on a Manhattan sidewalk — as newly surfaced footage appeared to show the wheelchair-bound suspect dragging her remains in a sleeping bag.
Chad Irish, 55, was slapped with a second-degree murder charge two days after he was taken into custody in the death of 31-year-old Yazmeen Williams. Police have said Williams was shot in the back of the head before her body was unceremoniously discarded next to a pile of trash last Friday.
Surveillance video obtained by The Post Wednesday appears to show Irish pulling a sleeping bag on a dolly with the help of his motorized wheelchair Friday.
As he’s zooming along with the suspected corpse, he appears to hit a snag and stops to readjust the sleeping bag and trash bags placed on the side of it, video shows.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Tuesday investigators had surveillance footage of a man in a wheelchair dragging the body that helped lead to the arrest.
As Irish was wheeled out of a Manhattan police station and loaded into a police van Wednesday evening, the alleged killer appeared disoriented flustered, confused by questions from reporters about the victim and bag she was in.
“I don’t know what bag you’re talking about,” Irish muttered.
While he attempted to respond to questions, he spoke too softly to make out much of what he was saying.
Irish is also facing counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and concealment of human corpse, which was lodged against him earlier in the week.
At least two locals told The Post they confronted Irish about his alleged involvement in the case on Monday as rumors swirled in the NYCHA building where he lived. But the suspect denied any connection to Williams’ slaying.
“I asked him what he did with that young girl,” said Antowne Frazier, who used to live in the area and has loved ones still there. “I asked him what was in the bag. He said it was garbage, it was dirty clothes he had to put out.
“He had an attitude. I told him he was a dead man,” Frazier, who knows the victim’s family, claimed. “He shouldn’t be around here anymore. He said, ‘The next time you see me you gotta watch out for me.’ He pulled out his gun.”
Later in the day, Frazier said he and Irish came face-to-face again, and this time, Frazier called police.
“He was still angry. He gave me an intimidating look. I thought he came back to make good on his threat. He pulled out his gun. He was about 10 feet away from me. There was no words exchanged,” he recalled. “That’s when I called the cops. He pulled out his gun on me twice. They told me to stay on the line and they came and got him.”
During his perp walk, Irish denied flashing his gun at anyone.
Another resident, who lives in the building, also spoke with Irish as police were hauling him away.
“I looked him in the eyes,” he said pointing to his eyes. “I asked him if he did it and he said, ‘No.’”
The tenant, who declined to give his name, called Irish a “drug addict” who was a “helping hand to the females.” While Irish uses a wheelchair, the neighbor said he could walk.
“People think he couldn’t walk but I know he could. I have been to his apartment and I’ve seen him walking,” he said. “It’s just that he goes faster in the wheelchair.”
Irish has a criminal history that includes 21 past arrests, sources said. He also has a twin brother who uses the same name who is on parole and also has a criminal past.
Irish was also charged with menacing and weapons charges this week, but those criminal counts are not connected to Williams’ death and are from outstanding warrants.
Williams used to stay with Irish at times before her death, though their relationship wasn’t clear, police have said.
When the suspect was taken into custody Monday afternoon, an angry mob of neighbors, including the victim’s mother and other relatives, swarmed him as police wheeled him out. During the commotion outside the Strauss Houses, Irish was punched or hit before he was put into the back of an ambulance.
“As far as we are concerned, we don’t give a f–k about him,” the tenant said of Irish. “He don’t mean nothing to us.”
