An 83-year-old Brooklyn woman is recovering after she was slashed while on her way to church in Brownsville. Betty Ellerby showed News 12 bloodstains on the white suit she was wearing when she was attacked on a Sunday morning.
The attack happened around half past eleven on Sunday morning while Ellerby was catching a cab near the intersection of Christopher and Pitkin Avenues in Brownsville. She said she turned the corner from Pitkin Avenue and said hello to a man she often sees near her apartment building.
Ellerby told News 12 that the man usually talks to himself and she always says hello and keeps walking. She said she does not know the fellow personally. But on that day, the man struck her twice in the back of her head while holding a large stick and a knife.
Ellerby said she did not confront her attacker because she saw he also had a knife. She told News 12 that if she had said anything to him he would probably have attacked her even more. Her eyeglasses were knocked off during the assault.
Police arrested 36-year-old Sharni Moore and charged him with assault, criminal possession of a weapon, and endangering the welfare of an elderly adult. Investigators say Moore is homeless and has a criminal history.
Moore was arraigned before a judge and is being held on ten thousand dollars cash bail or twenty-five thousand dollars bond. He appeared in court the night after his arrest.
Despite the brutal attack, Betty Ellerby remains resilient. She told News 12 that she keeps the faith and keeps going, saying that is what she has always done and will continue to do.