People who said they knew a 63-year-old woman found dead Sunday in Central Park remembered her as a familiar presence among the park’s bird watchers and others who spent time there. Several said they knew her simply as Lee.
Police found the woman unresponsive and unresponsive with head trauma after responding to a 911 call around 9:43 a.m. near East Drive and East 74th Street, according to the NYPD. Medical emergency services pronounced him dead on the spot. Police officials said she appeared to have been hit with a piece of wood at Summerhouse in the Ramble.
That evening, police arrested Jonathan Robles, 36, and charged him with murder and criminal possession of a weapon. His arraignment was scheduled for Tuesday and no lawyer has yet been appointed.
The New York Police Department did not say what led to the woman’s death or release her name, saying her identity was being withheld pending notification of her family. But several people interviewed Monday in Central Park said they knew the woman as Lee and described her as a longtime presence around the Ramble.
A group of people who knew her gathered Monday at the Summerhouse, a wooden shelter located in the Ramble, the winding network of trails in one of the park’s wooded areas.
Alberto Ramirez, 51, said Lee regularly stayed at the shelter and kept his tent there during the day.
“She always kept it because she always had a lot of it,” Ramirez said. “But the others, they arrive at a certain time and they set up their tents.”
Ramirez said Lee helped him when he needed a place to stay after he got out of prison.
“I was living here when I got out of prison because of her,” he said.
Robert DeCandido, who leads bird walks in Central Park under the name Birding Bob, said he has known Lee for years. He said birders hired her to help fill bird feeders and provided them with money to buy birdseed.
DeCandido and Leslie Porter, who also knew Lee, said members of the birding community helped Lee obtain camping equipment, including tents and outdoor clothing. They said Lee was also an artist who drew birds and sold some of her drawings for $250.
“She was a very tough, savvy New York woman,” DeCandido said. “Really, it was Lee against the world.”
Dan Stevenson, a bird watcher who lives a few blocks east of the park, also remembers seeing Lee regularly.
“She was a regular here,” he said. “I never bothered anyone.”
Porter said she sometimes stayed overnight at the shelter to make sure Lee was OK. She remembered Lee helping her when she needed food or protection from the cold.
“She helped me a lot,” Porter said. “With food when I was hungry or when it was so cold, she would give me a blanket.”
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