By Betsy Scheinbart
A Brooklyn woman was convicted last week of murdering her half-brother’s fiancée during a robbery of the victim’s Jamaica home two years ago, the Queens district attorney said.
Nicki Havner, 27, was found guilty Nov. 21 by a jury of murder in the first degree for killing Tracie Harrison, 29, by smothering her with a pillow during an Oct. 23, 1999 robbery and arson at 107-35 164th St. in Jamaica, DA Richard Brown said.
Havner could face life in prison without the possibility of parole when State Supreme Court Justice Richard Buchter imposes her sentence Jan. 3, Brown said.
Havner and Harrison were once close friends and roommates, but in September 1999, Havner accused Harrison and her own half-brother, Ira Richardson, Harrison’s fiancé, of robbing her Brooklyn apartment. In a video statement given to authorities the day after the murder and shown to the jury Nov. 9, Havner said she planned the robbery of Harrison’s house so she could “get her stuff back.”
Havner, a short and heavyset woman, killed Harrison after she and five men accused in the crime broke into Harrison’s Jamaica home through a window and bound and gagged Harrison, who was home alone, Brown said.
The five men allegedly helped Havner load up a van with electronic equipment and carpenters’ tools, Brown said.
“This was a most brutal and senseless crime as a result of a dispute over personal property,” Brown said. “How senseless. The defendant, who has been found guilty of having plotted and carried out the murder, deserves to spend the rest of her life behind bars.”
Havner’s ex-boyfriend, Ivory “Joe” Sanders, 31, who lived with her at 340 Williams Ave. in Brooklyn, was one of the men who helped in the robbery. He took the stand during Havner’s trial last week and testified that he saw Havner smother Harrison with a pillow.
Sanders pleaded guilty to burglary charges on Nov. 2, 2000 and was expected to receive a 15-year prison sentence, Brown said.
Another man involved in the robbery, Charles Robertson, 29, of 16 Grant Ave., Brooklyn pleaded guilty to burglary Feb. 5 and was expected to receive a sentence of 10 years in prison, Brown said.
The other men accused of helping Havner with the robbery are all from Brooklyn, including Havner’s neighbor, Willis Moore, 40, of 340 Williams Ave., Kevin Brooks, 31, of 1608 President St., and Reginald Thompson, 34, of 125 Newport Ave., Brown said. They are awaiting trial.
After Havner killed Harrison, she and the other men allegedly unloaded the van full of stolen property at a relative’s house and set the van on fire a few blocks away, Brown said.
They then returned to the victim’s house, where Havner and Sanders poured kerosene on the first and second floors and set the home on fire, Brown said.
Reach reporter Betsy Scheinbart by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 138.
