A 95-year-old woman with dementia was arrested Tuesday two days after she allegedly beat a fellow Brooklyn nursing home resident to death with a metal wheelchair piece.
Galina Smirnova was cuffed Tuesday afternoon for allegedly striking 89-year-old Holocaust survivor Nina Kravtsov multiple times in the head when a feud erupted just after 10 p.m. Sunday inside the Seagate Rehabilitation and Nursing Center on Coney Island, according to authorities.
Kravstov – found lying in bed with a bleeding head wound – was rushed to NYU Brooklyn Hospital, where she was initially listed in critical condition, cops and sources said.
Nina Kravtsov, 89, a Holocaust survivor from Ukraine, was identified as the woman beaten to death inside the Seagate Rehabilitation and Nursing Center. Obtained by the NY Post
She died from her injuries early Monday, police said.
“I was devastated,” her daughter Lucy Flom told The Post. “My friends are saying they can’t believe it because it only happens in movies.”
Flom said her mother was a Holocaust survivor who lived in Ukraine before moving to the US and settling down in Brighton Beach with her husband — always sacrificing for others.
“She was 5 years old when she was in the ghetto,” the heartbroken daughter said. “She had a big family. She lost most of her family.”
Kravtsov was mortally injured when 95-year-old Galina Smirnova allegedly beat her with a metal wheelchair piece just after 10 p.m. Sunday inside the Seagate Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, cops and sources said. Kyle Mazza/Shutterstock
Kravtsov launched a nursing career in Ukraine, where “everybody loved her,” and she was also a teen mom, Flom said.
“She sacrificed a lot. She was a single mom. She had me when she was 18,” she said. “She came here to give me a good education,” she added. “She was a very dedicated mother.”
“She was a nice lady. She was like many moms – very loving, caring, devoted.”
Smirnova was taken to Coney Island Hospital for both a physical and psychiatric evaluation after the deadly clash at the nursing home, sources said. Desheania Andrews/NY Post
Flom said her mother later remarried and she gained a stepbrother and stepsister.
“She was a mom to all of us,” Flom said. “We are just grieving.”
Smirnova was taken to Coney Island Hospital for both a physical and psychiatric evaluation after the deadly clash, sources previously said.
At the time of the incident, it was not clear if she would face charges since she is elderly and suffering from dementia, sources added.
The nonagenarian has now been hit with murder and criminal possession of weapons charges, according to police.