This undated photo provided by the New York City Police Department on Saturday, May 21, 2016 shows Anthony Lopez. Police are looking for Lopez in connection with a man who was seen wheeling a dead body on a dolly before leaving it in front of a New York City home on Friday, May 20, 2016. (New York City Police Department via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) — A New York man was being held without bail Sunday after police say he killed his wife and then wheeled her body around before dumping it on the front lawn of a Staten Island home.
Thirty-one-year-old Anthony Lopez pleaded not guilty to a murder charge during an arraignment in state Supreme Court on Staten Island. The medical examiner’s office said 26-year-old Aduba Obiamaka died of ligature strangulation.
District Attorney Michael McMahon said domestic violence may have been a factor in her death.
Police say Lopez fled Friday morning after an off-duty detective on State Island saw him wheeling the corpse, on a dolly and partly covered with a sheet.
He was arrested Saturday in Manhattan after a foot chase.
On Sunday, Lopez also was arraigned on a criminal mischief charge from earlier this month on Staten Island. Authorities say he threw a brick into the windshield of a woman’s car and a side window, shattering both. Bail was set at $1,000 in that misdemeanor complaint.
Lopez’s next court appearance is Tuesday.
It wasn’t immediately clear if he had an attorney who could comment.