Senior woman found dead with body trauma inside Lower East Side apartment: cops

Manhattan detectives have opened a homicide investigation into the death of a senior woman whose body was found with body trauma inside a Lower East Side apartment on Friday evening.

Law enforcement sources said the grim discovery was made at about 7:55 p.m. on Dec. 19 inside 18 Monroe St.

Officers from the 5th Precinct found the body while responding to a 911 call at the location regarding an unconscious woman. Police said the woman — Zhu Hou, 76, who resided at the Monroe Street location — suffered trauma to her head and body.

Responding EMS units pronounced Hou dead at the scene.

Her body was transferred to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, which ruled her death a homicide.

So far, no arrests have been made in the ongoing investigation, police said.

Through Dec. 14, the 5th Precinct reported three homicides year-to-date, equal to the total at the same point in 2024.

This story was updated on Dec. 21 at 11:45 a.m.