Eyewitness News reporter Marcus Solis has the story.
From the beginning, police identified a prime suspect, who they have since located. The suspect is the victim's own daughter.
"I love her," one family member said. "I can't talk right now."
Relatives were too overcome with emotion to speak. It was a vicious murder that police say was a family affair. This morning, the body of Ernestine Allen was discovered by her 14-year old son. Allen had been stabbed to death in her fourth-floor apartment in the Forest Houses on Trinity Avenue.
"I never would've thought something like that would've happened to her," neighbor Jamal Zahiruddin said. "It's just sad to know that that did happen to such a person like that. And then the baby, I heard about the baby disappearing too."
The baby is Allen's 2-year-old granddaughter, of whom she had been awarded custody. Last year, Allen kicked the baby's mother, her daughter, out of the apartment and took out a restraining order.
This morning, police spent hours trying to find the woman and the toddler, finally locating them Monday afternoon. Meantime, many neighbors were unaware of the family strife.
"I'm just terribly distraught by what happened to her, because she didn't deserve nothing like that," neighbor Mariluz Alvarez said.
Authorities say the child is in good condition. The daughter and her boyfriend are being questioned. Charges are pending.
