DA: U.S. Guardsman Arraigned for NY Murder of 2 Kids, Wife
A member of the U.S. Air National Guard, accused of drowning his two children and killing their mother during the summer inside the family’s Staten Island home, has been arraigned on murder and other charges, according to prosecutors.
Richmond County District Attorney Michael E. McMahon announced Wednesday that Shane Walker was arraigned on a superseding indictment in which he is charged with multiple counts of murder, manslaughter, arson, aggravated criminal contempt, criminal contempt, and criminal possession of a weapon. He is also charged with multiple counts of assault for a separate incident in which he allegedly caused physical injury to NYPD officers while being transported to a court arraignment.
Attorney information for Walker was not immediately available.
The 37-year-old Staten Island mother who was found dead along with her two toddler sons in their smoke-filled home on June 23, was also a U.S. military member who moved to the city from Russia -- and became an American citizen during a 2012 ceremony at the White House.
Alla Ausheva, 37, and her sons, 3-year-old Elia and 2-year-old Ivan, were discovered unresponsive in their home on Palisade Street in Arrochar mid-morning earlier this summer.
According to McMahon, who cites indictment and court documents, on or about June 21, Walker allegedly attacked his wife Aesheva inside the family’s home on Palisade Street, puncturing her neck two times with a knife and then strangling her to death. According to the indictment, Walker also caused the death of his two children, by drowning them before allegedly setting fire to the first floor of the house and subsequently fleeing the location.
According to The New York Times, Ausheva had an order of protection against Walker but it was no longer in effect. Her death culminates a true American dream story that ended, perhaps, before she was able to fully realize it.
Ausheva moved to Queens from St. Petersburg in 2011 and soon joined the New York Army National Guard. In 2014, she transferred to the Air National Guard. She was serving full time on active duty with a homeland security force based at Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, according to a military spokeswoman.
She became a U.S. citizen on July 4, 2012.
"All of you did something profound: You chose to serve," then Democratic President Barack Obama told Ausheva and 24 other immigrant service members during the naturalization ceremony. "You put on the uniform of a country that was not yet fully your own. You displayed the values that we celebrate every Fourth of July - duty, responsibility and patriotism."
Ausheva also was passionate about music; a YouTube video shows her performing in both Russian and English.
"One year ago I moved from Russia. That's when my first dream came true," Ausheva said onstage. "Then in the summer I joined the U.S. Army. That's when my second dream came true. Now, I'm singing on a real stage and not in the shower. My third dream came true. And now I wonder what's next."
Walker, also served in the Army National Guard and later joined the Air National Guard, working as a vehicle operator, officials previously said.
Walker reportedly was being transported from a police precinct June 24 to the Staten Island Court for his arraignment when he slammed a detective against the rear door of the vehicle several times, prosecutors say. Walker also allegedly headbutted an NYPD lieutenant when the lieutenant tried to restrain him. Both officers were injured, according to prosecutors.
from NBC New York - Top Stories https://ift.tt/2oz7q3d
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