The 59-year-old woman, believed to be homeless, was found on Seventh Avenue, near West 29th Street, around 10:30 p.m. on April 25.
The medical examiner says the cause of death was complications of a blunt impact injury to the head.
Detectives have recovered surveillance video that appears to show the victim being struck in the head with an object before she was found.
The victim has not yet been publicly identified, as police are still trying to find her family.
Detectives believe the victim was involved in a dispute with a fellow resident of the Chelsea shelter where the two lived.
They both live at the Bowery Residence Committee, at 131 West 25th Street, and authorities are searching for the suspect.
Detectives are not investigating the death as a hate crime.
So far no arrests have been made.