Nisaa Walcott death: Khalid Barrow sentenced to 25 years in prison for killing his cousin, hiding her body in bin and impersonating her

Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: This week, a man was sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison for killing his cousin last year, concealing her body for days, stealing her money, using her New York apartment as a cover, and impersonating her.

According to a press statement from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Khalid Barrow, 23, was found guilty of killing his cousin Nisaa Walcott, 35, and was sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison.

'Khalid Barrow strangled his cousin in her own home'

Omir Walcott, who was 14 at the time, criticized the murderer. In an emotional victim impact statement, the speaker stated, "My whole family is destroyed," according to the New York Post.

“It’s been trauma after trauma. It’s like it’s digging at my skin like someone’s nails just scratching.”

Laura Ward, the acting justice of the Supreme Court, also chastised him. “It’s one of the saddest cases that I have ever presided over in that the defendant, in this case, had a family that was willing to be there for him all the time — and he clearly took advantage of that family,” Ward said, the paper reported.

Ward further stated, “What Khalid Barrow did to his cousin after her death was reprehensible. His actions indicated a callous disregard for not only the victim in this case but for the entire family.”

Adam Freedman, Barrow's attorney, stated that his client skipped court "because he, frankly, couldn't face the extended family".

Barrow was convicted last month of second-degree murder, fourth-degree grand larceny, concealing a human corpse, and fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property.

“The defendant’s criminal conduct was an unspeakable betrayal,” said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

“Khalid Barrow strangled his cousin in her own home, all for his own financial gain. I am amazed by the resiliency of Nisaa Walcott’s family members, who have persevered through the horrific murder of their loved one by her own cousin."

"They attended the trial every single day, listening to incredibly disturbing testimony. No sentence can undo this family’s pain, but I hope they continue to heal from this terrible loss.”

Prosecutors allege that Khalid Barrow asphyxiated Walcott

Prosecutors said that Barrow asphyxiated Walcott in her East Harlem apartment, bound her ankles with a Wi-Fi cord, concealed her body in a plastic tub filled with leftover fabric, and stashed the tub in a storage room before thoroughly cleaning the flat with bleach.

He started pretending to be her right away, according to the authorities, texting her 14-year-old son from her phone, tricking him by requesting the PIN for her EBT account and telling him to leave the door unlocked.

Prosecutors claimed that he also texted her co-workers and other relatives under her false identity.

On February 18, 2022, he moved the plastic tub containing her body to her apartment's roof while using her credit cards and accounts to buy food, drinks, and marijuana after failing to rent a car to transport her body upstate, according to a news release.

A few days later, Wolcott received a text from a worried relative asking her to send him a picture so he could be sure she was alright.

“Barrow, using Nisaa’s phone, replied with an old photo that the relative recognized,” prosecutors said. “The relative contacted Nisaa’s son, whom Barrow — still impersonating Nisaa — instructed to say that everything was fine.”

Nisaa Walcott's family noticed unusual text messages

When her family realized no one knew where she was, they reported her missing to the police the following day. In response to their frequent calls and messages, they noticed a string of odd and unusual text messages.

"That language was like, wait a minute, that's not my sister," Eugene Butler, her brother, said to WCBS, the flagship CBS network in Manhattan. He added that it was also telling that there was no phone response.

Butler said to local ABC flagship WABC, “No matter what she was going through, she always picks up the phone for me.” Her surviving son received an "odd" text message which said that Barrow was left in charge of things while his mother left for a business trip.

Those who knew Walcott did not agree with the alleged situation. On February 24, 2022, Barrow was contacted by police to ask about Walcott's whereabouts.

A few hours later, on February 25, 2022, early in the morning, Barrow moved the bathtub containing Nisaa's remains to a Bronx location and placed the container out on the pavement. That afternoon, a man who resells abandoned personal items found it.

He noticed a human leg in a trash can across the street from a warehouse. The man told the New York Police Department that the bin seemed out of place and unrelated to that establishment in the Bronx's Highbridge neighborhood, as Law&Crime reported.

Authorities seize surveillance footage

According to the authorities, they looked at surveillance footage from Walcott's apartment complex, which on February 18, 2022, showed Barrow entering the building with the woman and then leaving on his own.

It is purported that Barrow is seen dragging a sizable plastic bin to the apartment building's roof in another video taken later that day.

Seven days later, at midnight, more surveillance footage purportedly captures Barrow and an unidentified man helping to remove a large plastic container. Law enforcement claims to have further footage of a man dumping a storage bin in the Bronx.

“This is barbaric, very gutless,” Butler commented. “The person who did this had to have been a person who had no soul because all she wanted to do was help this person.”