Rene Ayarde, 29, had been a live-in caretaker for the elderly and ailing man she is accused of beating to death, authorities said.
A former live-in health aide has been arrested for allegedly beating to death her 80-year-old patient whose body was found in the lobby of his New York City apartment building with the words "I touch little girls" scrawled on his chest, authorities said.
Rene Ayarde, 29, caused “significant trauma” to Robert Raynor’s head and torso on July 19, causing his brain to bleed and breaking his nose, chest and nearly all of his ribs, prosecutor Brooke Baranoski said Monday at Ayarde's arraignment in a New York City, the Staten Island Advance reported.
Ayarde was charged with two counts of second-degree murder and one count each of first-degree manslaughter and second-degree assault. She pleaded not guilty Monday, through her attorney.
She is being held without bail. Her next scheduled court appearance is Dec. 21.
Ayarde and her 3-year-old daughter had been living with Raynor in his Staten Island apartment, authorities said.
Raynor's daughter, Carolyn Whetstone of North Carolina, has said her father was not physically or emotionally capable of harming a child.
"That's not my father. He would not touch a child. He would never violate anyone," she told the New York Daily News at the time his battered body was found. "He's got daughters and granddaughters that he's watched when he's come to visit me ... That's not him. That's not true."
Her father could not get around well and was battling cancer, she said.
Raynor's shirtless body was found face-up in the first-floor hallway of his building, with “I touch little girls” and “I take dolls into my room” written on his chest, Baranoski said in court.
Ayarde was arrested on Nov. 12 at her New Jersey home and extradited to Staten Island, authorities said.
The same day Raynor's remains were discovered, Ayarde was arrested in Manhattan and charged with child abuse and assault after witnesses said she threw her young daughter to the ground and assaulted a bystander who was filming the alleged attack on a cellphone, police said.
That unrelated case is pending, Baranoski said. Ayarde had been released on $15,000 bond in that arrest, authorities said.
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