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An elderly woman was found bludgeoned to death inside her Chinatown apartment with “a bloodied skateboard” near her body – and police believe her son may have killed her, police sources said. 

Zhu Hou, who also had injuries to her body, was pronounced dead on the scene Friday night inside an apartment in the Lower East Side’s Knickerbocker Village complex on Monroe Street, police said.

The 76-year-old was found on the floor by her son, who called 911, the sources said.


  The 76-year-old was found bludgeoned to death in an apartment in NYC’s Knickerbocker Village, cops said. Kyle Mazza/Shutterstock The 76-year-old was found bludgeoned to death in an apartment in NYC’s Knickerbocker Village, cops said. Kyle Mazza/Shutterstock

  A family member is suspected in the killing, police sources said. Kyle Mazza/Shutterstock A family member is suspected in the killing, police sources said. Kyle Mazza/Shutterstock

There were no immediate arrests but police are looking at her son, who has a history of mental illness, as a possible suspect, the sources said.

As of Saturday afternoon, nobody was in custody in association with the death, cops said.

“I’m not scared,” said a neighbor, who declined to identify himself. “They’ll catch them. There are cameras all over the buildings.”


  A second family member found the woman dead on the floor of her apartment, the sources said. Kevin C. Downs for NY Post A second family member found the woman dead on the floor of her apartment, the sources said. Kevin C. Downs for NY Post

Neighbors said they heard fighting among the family the day before the killing and it continued until Friday morning. One neighbor also said the son had a history off acting oddly.

“He was always off. But I didn’t think he was dangerous until Friday,” the neighbor said.

The Office of the City’s Chief Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death.

The NYPD requests that anyone with information about the case contact the 5th Precinct in Manhattan.

Knickerbocker Village is a sprawling, federally subsidized middle-income housing complex that borders Chinatown and the Lower East Side and was built in the 1930s.

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