Mother Arrested in Connection to Torture and Murder of 21-Year-Old Bronx Woman; Boyfriend Still at Large

Princesa Encarnacio-Soto was found “barely alive” in a stairwell and was pronounced dead at a BronxCare Health System facility, according to reports

The mother of a Bronx man suspected of torturing and killing his 21-year-old girlfriend has been arrested for her alleged role in helping conceal the brutal crime, according to New York City police officials.

Naida Jorge, 54, was charged Thursday evening with murder, manslaughter, hindering prosecution, concealment of a human corpse, and tampering with physical evidence in the death of Princesa Encarnacion-Soto. Investigators say Jorge attempted to clean the scene after her son, 27-year-old Robert Strother, allegedly subjected Encarnacion-Soto to a horrific ordeal of physical abuse and torture.

Police responding to a 911 call at a Fordham Heights building found a woman brutally tortured and a trail of blood

Police are still searching for Strother, who remains at large and is wanted in connection to the young woman’s murder. Encarnacion-Soto was discovered Tuesday barely alive on a staircase in a Fordham Heights building in the Bronx. She later succumbed to her injuries.

“There was no blood on her while she laid on the staircase, and she was in fresh clothing that had no blood on her,” said NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny. “So there is a possibility that someone cleaned the body, put fresh clothes on her, and threw it on the staircase.”

NYPD crime scene unit investigators use an evidence marker and collect a garbage bag containing pieces of evidence in the courtyard area outside the Bronx building

Officers followed a trail of blood from the stairwell to an apartment in the building, where they found evidence of a violent assault. Strother is believed to have tortured Encarnacion-Soto inside the apartment, where she had been tied down, stabbed multiple times, and possibly beaten with a hammer.

“We believe she was tied down to the bed based on the blood that was on the bed,” Kenny said. “There were slice marks on her thighs, slice marks on her upper arms and shoulders. The ones on her legs were fresh. The ones on her upper torso seemed like they were in the process of healing.”

Police are looking for a 21-year-old man believed to be the boyfriend of the woman found tortured and left to die

Kenny emphasized that the injuries appeared to have been inflicted not with the intent to kill, but to cause pain, suggesting a prolonged period of abuse.

Encarnacion-Soto had recently returned to the Bronx after leaving Strother and traveling to Rhode Island. Upon her return, she moved back in with Strother and his mother, Jorge.

Photos from inside the apartment show disturbing conditions, including layers of filth and clutter, further underscoring the grim environment in which the young woman suffered.

The super at the Bronx building where a woman was tortured said the home was so filthy he refused to go inside

Surveillance footage captured Strother leaving the building shortly after the incident, and police say he remains on the run.

Adding to the disturbing nature of the case, Kenny revealed that Strother had previously called police in May to report that Encarnacion-Soto had been raped by a group of men on the building’s rooftop. That claim was determined to be false and is now believed to have been a cover-up to explain the injuries she sustained while allegedly being abused inside the apartment.

“The mom and son fabricated the rape story because our victim here was injured to the point she needed medical attention,” Kenny said.

As the manhunt for Strother continues, authorities are urging anyone with information to come forward.