Son of Bronx woman whose HEAD, LEG and TORSO were found dumped in bags on sidewalk confesses to killing her and hacking up her body with power saw
- Body parts of an African-American woman were found in at least four travel and plastic bags strewn among garbage in South Bronx
- Identified as Tanya Byrd, 45
- Son, Bashid McLean, 22, is accused of killing his mother and chopping her up after police reportedly found a saw at the family home
- A dog-walker found one of the bags and called the cops at around 4:30 a.m
- Scores of detectives are still searching for evidence in the curbside pile of garbage and discarded furniture
- Witness said they saw a suspect flee the grisly scene in a silver SUV
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The son of a woman whose body parts were found shoved into bags and scattered around a Bronx neighborhood this morning has confessed to the crime, after an electric saw and other carving implements were discovered in the apartment they shared.
Police were overwhelmed by the stench of bleach when they entered the apartment 22-year-old Bashid McLean shared with his mother Tanya Byrd, 45, whom he is suspected of killing.
He was led out of the house in handcuffs after police recovered a saw, gloves and a Sawzall power saw, which they believe he used in the disturbing crime.
Shocking: The body parts of Tanya Byrd, pictured, were found strewn around at least four different curbside locations in the Bronx
Byrd's body parts were found strewn around at least four different curbside locations within a half-mile of the pair's Morrisania home in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
The pieces - which include her head, torso, right leg and hands - were found zipped into travel bags or stuffed into plastic garbage bags.
McLean, who suffers learning disabilities, admitted to the crime during questioning by NYPD officers, sources told The New York Daily News.
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ShareInvestigators have spent the day scouring through piles of trash in the South Bronx neighborhood after a horrified dog-walker discovered human remains in a travel bag at around 4:30am and called police.
One-by-one, Byrd's decapitated head, right leg, torso and hands have been unearthed in the area around Eagle Avenue, 158th Street, 156th Street and Cauldwell Avenue.
Some of Byrd's body parts were still wearing the clothes she was in when she was slaughtered, police sources told the Daily News.
Slipped through the cracks: Tanya Byrd, 45, pictured left with her six-year-old Down's syndrome son, was tragically murdered in her Bronx home in February by her elder son, police say
A neighbor told the paper: 'I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Bashid killed her. She was afraid of that boy... He was a hellion.'
Byrd was sometimes frightened of her son but loved him, a relative who didn't want to be named told DNAInfo. 'He's acted out in violent ways before, but I never thought he could do something like this. Not in a million years.'
But Byrd's sister, Cassandra McLean, insisted the boy was innocent.
She believes her sister's allegedly abusive ex-boyfriend was responsible for her ghastly murder and dismemberment.
Police confirmed Byrd's son reported her missing at the Bronx's 40th precinct station. He found a photograph of her, which they matched to the decapitated head found in one of the bags, when police showed up at his house. This is when they discovered the saw.
He reportedly told police he hadn't been able to contact his mother for at least a day.
Right leg: Byrd's right leg, pictured under a sheet, was discovered in a pile of trash on the corner of E156 Street and Eagle Avenue
Investigation: Police guard a sheet-covered plastic bag near the intersection of Eagle Avenue and 158th street in the Bronx this morning
Detectives: The mother's body was chopped up and scattered around the Bronx neighborhood. Police say far fewer murders were carried out this year in New York
Cassandra McLean said her nephew suffered learning difficulties from an early age.
She said Bashid McLean told her Byrd's former boyfriend dropped by on Monday and that was the last time he saw her.
'He (the ex-boyfriend) came over yesterday and walked out with her in the morning, yesterday morning,' McLean told the newspaper. 'That’s what her son told me on the phone just now.'
She told DNAInfo that Byrd's ex-boyfriend was trouble.
'I told my sister to stay away from him, but she said he's harmless and not to worry.'
McLean added of her sister, who also had a 23-year-old daughter and a six-year-old son with Down's syndrome: 'She was a loving mother and very devoted to her son. That's what she lived for. That's her joy in life.'
Neighbor Elizabeth Cruz told the newspaper the woman would never have left her youngest son willingly, as his Down's syndrome means he is very reliant on her.
Scattered: The head, torso and leg were found at scattered at different locations along the Bronx neighborhood shown in the map
Grim: Police guard a sheet-covered plastic bag next to a police vehicle on Eagle Avenue in the Bronx borough of New York, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013
Dogs: Police used its cavalier dogs, pictured, to help sniff out remaining body parts
Scene: The mother's head was found on Cauldwell Avenue near 158th Street in the Bronx
Another neighbor who knew the woman told DNAInfo that Byrd was a good to her kids.
'She's a good person, she's a good mom,' they said.
The Daily News reported a witness saying they saw a suspect dump the bags and their gruesome contents on the curb for collection and then flee the scene in a silver SUV.
One woman said a female leg was clearly visible, protruding from one of the bags.
'It was sticking out the bag and apparently it was an African-American leg,' she told WCBS 880. 'It was on top of the garbage that we put out.'
Byrd's right leg was found on Eagle Avenue near 156th Street, while her torso was discovered on Eagle Ave near 158th Street, witnesses told The Post.
Smiles: Byrd, pictured, met a grisly death and her son, Bahsid McLean, 22, is the only suspect at this point in the investigation
Scattered: A right leg was found on Eagle Avenue near 156th Street, while a torso was discovered on Eagle Ave near 158th Street, and the woman's head was discovered around the corner
The mother's head was found at Cauldwell Avenue and 158th. Investigators have also found the woman's hand, though it's unclear where.
'I saw the police find it. It was on top of the garbage, the recyclables,' a 53-year-old witness told The Post of the leg discovery.
She said it was in a plastic trash bag that was stuffed inside a small traveler's bag.
'That family is going to suffer, somebody is going to wake up without their mother,' she added early this morning.
Investigators are continuing to look through other garbage piled up on the street along with discarded furniture and have roped off the area.
Building superintendents were told to steer clear of the trash piles.
Grisly: Police detectives, left, investigate a site on Cauldwell Avenue where the woman's head was discovered
Crime scene: A horrified dog-walker called 911 at around 4:30 a.m. after stumbling upon the remains shoved into multiple bags on 158th Street in The Bronx, pictured
Suspect: A witness said they saw a suspect dump the bags and their gruesome contents and then flee the scene, pictured, in a silver SUV
'You could tell it was real. You could see past the ankle, but there was no blood,' Bobby, a superintendent for a building overlooking where one of the body parts was found, told DNAInfo.
'It's creepy. It feels like some Freddy Kruger stuff. I don't like it at all, man.'
Byrd was taken to the medical examiner to determine the cause of death.
The bags were found strewn near El Batey Borincano Garden, part of a quiet residential block that comprises two religious schools and a church.
'I really don't know what to think,' nearby resident Joyce Placencia told CBS News. 'This is the first time I've seen something like this happening around here.'
Dozens of uniformed police officers swarmed the area after the disturbing discoveries and continued searching for evidence into the afternoon.
A police spokesman said they'll remain at the scene as long as required.
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