By Howard Koplowitz
A Queens Village sex offender was charged with murder after he allegedly beat his girlfriend to death in their 214th Street home, police said.
Officers responded to the home at around 9:54 p.m. June 8 following a call about an unconscious female at 89-26 214th St., police said.
They found 28-year-old Tiffany Pettiford, who was struck multiple times with a blunt object, police said.
Pettiford was taken to Queens Hospital Center, where she died, police said.
Pettiford’s boyfriend, Level 3 sex offender Isaiah Smith, 48, was arrested and charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon, police said.
A neighbor said Pettiford had moved into the 214th Street house last summer.
Smith was designated as a Level 3 sex offender following his February 1990 conviction for the attempted rape of a 10-year-old girl, according to the New York State Sex Offender Registry.
Smith was sentenced to five to 10 years in a state prison for the crime, according to the registry.
Pettiford and Smith had an 8-month-old child together, the New York Post reported.
A spokeswoman for Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said Smith had been convicted of second-degree robbery in 1981, a charge that is punishable by up to nine years in prison.
The spokeswoman said she was unsure exactly how much time Smith served for the robbery conviction.
Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at hkoplowitz@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4573.
