A 47-year-old woman was shot multiple times and killed inside a Harlem apartment early Tuesday afternoon, police said. Officers responding around 1 p.m. to a 911 call at a building on West 141st Street near Malcolm X Boulevard found the victim, identified as Basilisa Negron, unconscious with several gunshot wounds. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
The killing drew a swift, large response to a residential block steps from Lenox Avenue and within sight of busy retail and transit corridors. Detectives sealed the hallway and apartment as neighbors watched from behind tape. Investigators said no arrests had been made as of late Tuesday and a motive was not immediately clear. The case now moves into a familiar but urgent track: canvassing for cameras, tracing calls, and reconstructing a timeline measured in minutes between when Negron was last seen alive and when officers reached the door.
According to preliminary accounts, the 911 call came from someone known to Negron who went to the building and asked for help when she could not be reached. Patrol officers entered the apartment just after 1 p.m. and found Negron with gunshot wounds to the torso. Medics attempted lifesaving measures but pronounced her dead a short time later. Detectives marked several shell casings and photographed a tight cluster of impact points on an interior wall, an indication, they said, of shots fired at close range. Crime scene technicians worked through the afternoon to collect ballistic evidence and swab surfaces for DNA.
Neighbors said the building is a mix of longtime tenants and newer arrivals, with doors that open to a narrow hallway and a buzzer system that sometimes sticks. Two residents who live on the floor told officers they heard a burst of noise that sounded like furniture bumping, followed by a sharp series of pops shortly before sirens arrived. One tenant said she called out into the hallway and heard nothing in reply. “It was three, maybe four quick shots,” said a resident who asked not to be named. “Then quiet.” Another neighbor recalled seeing a person in a dark jacket hurry down the stairs a few minutes before police showed up, but could not provide a face or direction of travel.
Police identified the victim as Basilisa Negron and began notifying family. Detectives worked to establish routine patterns — who had keys, which days she worked, whether deliveries or maintenance visits were scheduled, and if anyone had recently argued with her. Officers canvassed corner stores and a nearby laundromat for video that might show visitors entering or leaving the building in the hours leading to 1 p.m. The apartment door and frame were examined for pry marks, and investigators checked the building’s entry camera to determine whether an intercom buzz preceded the shooting or if the assailant slipped in behind another tenant.
The block sits just west of Malcolm X Boulevard, where weekday foot traffic is steady. Afternoon school dismissal and holiday-week errands kept the sidewalks busy as police routed pedestrians around cruisers double-parked at the curb. Yellow tape cordoned off the stoop, and an evidence van idled beside a ladder truck used to light the hallway for photographs. By midafternoon, a small knot of residents clustered near the corner, trading what they had heard and asking officers when the elevator would reopen. A woman who said she knew Negron in the building described her as friendly and quick with a greeting. “She always smiled when we passed in the hall,” the neighbor said.
Investigators are piecing together Negron’s recent contacts by pulling phone records with court authorization, reviewing messages, and checking whether she had reported any threats or disputes. Detectives will compare ballistic markings to databases that can link a firearm to other cases. The city medical examiner will conduct an autopsy to determine the official cause and manner of death and document wound paths, range and trajectory — details that help confirm the sequence of shots and approximate distance. Officers also requested footage from city cameras positioned at nearby intersections to track possible routes in or out of the block.
Police said there was no immediate evidence of a wider threat to the public. The apartment showed no signs of a ransack beyond what might have happened during the shooting, according to a preliminary description shared at the scene. It remained unknown whether Negron knew her killer. Detectives did not say if they recovered a weapon, and they did not detail how many rounds were fired beyond noting multiple wounds. Officers escorted several residents to precinct cars for recorded interviews, a routine step to lock in statements while details are fresh.
Harlem has seen periodic spikes and declines in gun violence over recent years, often concentrated near certain corridors and housing clusters. West 141st Street, where Tuesday’s shooting occurred, sits near community centers, small churches and a scattered mix of renovated and older buildings. On Tuesday, the block returned to a murmur after nightfall, with the building’s entryway still guarded by an officer and a strip of tape across the stairs. A maintenance worker carried mop buckets inside as detectives completed their last set of photographs, and a patrol car eased into a position where officers could monitor people entering and exiting the lobby.
Legally and procedurally, the case advances through steps familiar in an apartment homicide. Detectives will draft a timeline memo that aligns 911 timestamps, body-worn camera video, and statements from the first officers through crime scene technicians. Any potential witnesses — including delivery drivers, superintendents, and neighbors who used the stairwell — will be scheduled for follow-up interviews in the coming days. If investigators identify a suspect, they can seek a warrant for arrest or, if the person is already in custody on another matter, file a detainer. Prosecutors will be briefed on evidence strength and any leads from ballistic or DNA analyses expected to return after the holiday week.
Relatives and friends are expected to gather privately once formal notifications are complete. The building’s lobby mailboxes held a small cluster of flyers by evening, and a few candles appeared near the stoop. A man who said he had known Negron for years paused by the tape after work. “She kept to herself,” he said quietly, declining to give his name. “She didn’t deserve this.” Residents filed past in twos and threes as officers waved them through the door and reminded visitors the hallway remained an active scene.
As of late Tuesday, police had released Negron’s name and age but not the apartment number or any description of a suspect. No arrests were announced. Investigators said additional information would be provided when available, including any images from security cameras and any changes in the case status after lab results return.
Author note: Last updated December 24, 2025.