What to Know
- A 70-year-old woman was found dead inside her Upper West Side home with a laceration to her neck, police said
- Police found Susan Trott unconscious and unresponsive inside her home on West End Avenue Sunday morning
- No one has been arrested in connection with Trott’s death, but police are investigating the incident as a homicide
A 70-year-old woman was found dead inside her Upper West Side home with a cut to her neck, a grisly discovery police made after following a trail of blood from the living room to the bedroom over the weekend, authorities said.
Authorities tell News 4 police have identified a person of interest in the death of Susan Trott, who was found unconscious in her West End Avenue home near West 95th Street just before 5 a.m. Sunday. Cops showed up to investigate after Trott's business partner called 911, saying she hadn't been seen in days.
The person of interest is a woman who lives in the same building, and authorities are exploring the relationship, if any, between the two women, police officials said.
"We believe all the pieces of that puzzle are within that building," said NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea.
Trott, who had a laceration to her neck, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. It's not clear if that person of interest is in custody; police are expected to provide additional details later Monday.
Detectives say it is likely she had been dead for at least a day; there were no signs of struggle or forced entry and nothing was stolen, officials said.
Neighbors said Trott lived in the building for more than a decade. They described her as an animal lover who was well known in the neighborhood.
"I started crying when I heard about it because she left to feed the birds," said one neighbor, Sandra May Flowers.
Another neighbor, Helen Stein, described Trott as generous, a bit eccentric and a woman with strong opinions. It's not clear what kind of work Trott did.
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Other neighbors said they were shocked by the killing in the doorman-staffed building.
"It's not possible to just walk [around], for an unknown person who is not known in the building to come here," said Susanna Molnar. "My gosh, this is shocking -- very very shocking. Shocking. In this building?"
"There is a doorman, so it had to have been someone inside," said Jack Demler.
"That made me very scared," he said. "I mean, just for her as well, you're thinking you can trust somebody to let them into your apartment."
