Man arrested for murder in possible Bushwick ax attack gets psychiatric evaluation

A 20-year-old woman is dead and another fighting for her life after a possible ax attack over the weekend.

News 12 Staff

Apr 22, 2019, 10:38 AM

Updated 1,824 days ago

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A 20-year-old woman is dead and another fighting for her life after a possible ax attack over the weekend.  
Police tell News 12 that two women were attacked by the same man, with some sources saying the victim who survived was the girlfriend of the man charged in the crime.
The 20-year-old who did not survive has been identified Savannah Rivera. Her family says she was two months pregnant at the time of her death.
Rivera was found lifeless inside her friend's apartment on the eighth floor of the Buswick Houses early Saturday morning. Police say she was nearly decapitated.
Initially, police responded to a call for the other victim, a mother of a 4-year-old girl who lived at the Bushwick Houses.
Instead, they found that the mother had already been taken to the hospital. However, her daughter was found inside the apartment. The 4-year-old was unharmed, and her mom remains in critical but stable condition this morning, according to police.
News 12 is told while investigators searched for evidence, they say they found an ax. They're not confirming how it's related to the attack, but News 12 did speak to the owner of a local hardware store who said police came in to question him.
"The detectives came in here in the store, and they showed us a picture of the ax. We identified it. We saw that it had a price tag that came from our store," says Udi Amrussi, manager at Florama Hardware.
Police arrested 34-year-old Jerry Brown, who is now facing murder and attempted murder charges. 
News 12 is told Brown went through a psychiatric evaluation over the weekend. 
The District Attorney says Brown will remain in the hospital.


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