Arrest made in torture, murder of 21-year-old woman after weeklong manhunt for her boyfriend

Man Arrested After Allegedly Torturing and Murdering Girlfriend in Bronx

A man has been taken into custody following a dayslong manhunt after a brutal incident in the Bronx where his 21-year-old girlfriend was tortured and killed, with her body left in a stairwell.

Princesa Encarnacion-Soto was found stabbed and possibly beaten with a hammer on July 22 at a building on Grand Concourse near East 183rd Street in Fordham Heights. The suspect in the slaying, identified as 27-year-old Robert Strother, was on the run for more than a week before being apprehended.

Encarnacion-Soto, who was staying in the same building with Strother and his mother, 54-year-old Naida Jorge, was found in the stairwell in critical condition. Unfortunately, she succumbed to her injuries.

Strother was seen in a photo strutting with his hand in his red sweatpants pocket, captured for the first time by authorities as they closed in on him. His mother, Naida Jorge, was also implicated in the case for allegedly cleaning up the crime scene after the murder.

According to investigators, it is believed that Encarnacion-Soto was tied down to a bed and tortured before being left in the stairwell to die. The wounds inflicted on her were for pain rather than to kill, with slice marks found on various parts of her body.

Jorge was arrested on charges of murder, manslaughter, hindering prosecution, and concealment of a human corpse. She was held without bail during her arraignment in Bronx Criminal Court.

Police have not confirmed if Strother is the person currently in custody, but charges are being prepared. The investigation into this heinous crime continues as the community mourns the loss of Princesa Encarnacion-Soto.