Ex-convict Larry Atkinson was charged with a double murder in New York in 1994 when he pleaded not guilty in court: “I didn’t do it!”

A former prisoner charged with the brutal 1994 double murder of a Harlem mother and her daughter screamed in a Manhattan courtroom on Tuesday, pleading not guilty.

“I’d like to say something, Judge,” career criminal Larry Atkinson yelled during his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court. “I didn’t do it!”

Atkinson, 64, wore jeans and an olive hoodie – and a walker – when he appeared before Criminal Judge Jay Weiner, who was charged with two counts of second-degree murder.

He was arrested by the NYPD Cold Case Unit at 7:30 a.m. Monday in connection with the long-term deaths of 57-year-old Sarah Roberts and her 25-year-old daughter.

The two victims were found in their apartment in the Grant Houses apartment complex on February 20, 1994, and the case remains a mystery to this day.

Detectives used new DNA technology to link a cigarette butt and nail clippings from the crime scene to Atkinson, police said.


Larry Atkinson
Larry Atkinson, 64, was arraigned on murder charges linked to a 1994 Harlem double homicide.
Stephen Hirsh

Larry Atkinson, 64 years old.
Atkinson was ordered to be held without bail despite his lawyer saying the 64-year-old had cancer and other health problems.
Stephen Hirsh

In court on Tuesday, Atkinson’s lawyer argued for her ailing client’s release pending trial.

“My client is now in his 60s and suffering from numerous medical conditions,” legal aid attorney Michelle Villasenor-Grant told the judge. “My client was diagnosed with prostate cancer 11 months ago and gets chemotherapy every week.”

Villasenor-Grant said Atkinson also has cataracts and will have surgery next month.

The judge denied the motion and ordered that he be held without bail.

Police said Atkinson was dating a home health assistant who was caring for Sharon Roberts, who was developmentally disabled, at the time of the murders.


Double homicide in Harlem in 1994.
The death of Sarah Roberts and her daughter Sharon by strangulation in 1994 remains unsolved until this week, police say.
New York Post

Assistant Celeste Cornelius still lives with the accused of murder and defended him.

“I know he didn’t do it,” she said Monday outside their Harlem apartment. “I don’t want you to misquote me, but I know he didn’t. I don’t care about the DNA – this whole mess. He didn’t do it.”

Police found no evidence of a break-in in the sixth-floor apartment after the housekeeper made the gruesome discovery and called 911, The Post reported at the time.

Sarah Roberts was found on her bed with her daughter lying on the floor with a “woolen stocking wrapped around her neck,” police said in 1994.

Police said they stole a VCR and several hundred dollars in cash, but it remains unclear why Atkinson allegedly killed the couple.


Sharon Roberts, 25 years old.
Sharon Atkinson, a 25-year-old woman with special needs, was found strangled with her mother in Harlem in 1994.
Francis Specser/New York Post

According to the NYPD, Atkinson has a total of 28 arrests and has served five jail terms.

His time behind bars dates back to 1985, when he was sentenced to two years in prison on assault charges and was released on parole in 1987, the state’s online records show.

Atkinson, who also served time for assault, drugs and attempted robbery, was last released on parole in 2013 after serving two more years for attempted drug dealing.

Content Source

Dallas Press News – Latest News:
Dallas Local News || Fort Worth Local News | Texas State News || Crime and Safety News || National news || Business News || Health News

texasstandard.news contributed to this report.

Related Articles

Back to top button