A home health-care aide accused of killing her 67- year-old client in a Brooklyn apartment had been hired to replace an attendant who turned out to be a thief, friends and relatives of the victim said yesterday.

Maria Torres, a diabetic who had recently undergone open-heart surgery, suffered a fractured rib during a struggle that also left her strangled, according to the city Medical Examiner’s Office.

The nude body was found on the bathroom floor of Torres’ 50th Street home in Sunset Park after home attendant Yamilette Hidalgo, 35, ran out Wednesday morning screaming that a man had pushed his way in and attacked the two of them.

Cops arrested her after securing surveillance video from the lobby.