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Harlem woman killed by stray bullet; Queens man arrested months later, NYPD says

Abraham Vah, 25, was arrested and charged with murder, criminal use of a firearm and criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the fatal shooting in Harlem of Odessa Simms on Aug. 20, 2016, police said on Tuesday, April 26, 2017.
Abraham Vah, 25, was arrested and charged with murder, criminal use of a firearm and criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the fatal shooting in Harlem of Odessa Simms on Aug. 20, 2016, police said on Tuesday, April 26, 2017. Photo Credit: Jeff Bachner

A Queens man admitted to firing the shot that killed a 61-year-old woman just blocks from her home in Harlem last summer, police said Tuesday.

While hospitalized at Beth Israel Hospital, Abraham Vah, 25, told staff that he had information about a homicide, police said. After being questioned by detectives, he was arrested and charged for the shooting on Tuesday.

Vah was shooting at a man who had stolen a chain from him when a stray bullet hit Odessa Simms in the neck on Aug. 20, 2016 at about 11:45 p.m. at West 144th Street and Lenox Avenue, police said. Simms was reportedly playing dominoes in the park at the time. She was taken to Harlem Hospital Center, where she was pronounced dead.

Vah has at least 10 prior arrests, police said.

He was charged with murder, criminal use of a firearm and criminal possession of a weapon.

It was not immediately clear why Vah was hospitalized.