A man has been charged with five drug-related murders in New York City, including a fashion designer who worked with Lady Gaga.
Kenwood Allen, 33, is facing charges that he was part of an extensive drug smuggling and robbery campaign in the city.
He is accused of murdering designer Kathryn Gallagher, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office said Wednesday.
Gallagher, 35, was found lifeless in his bed by his neighbor in July last year. There were no obvious signs of trauma, according to The Everyday Beast.
The front door of his apartment was open with the keys still locked when he was discovered. The cause of death was unclear until the medical examiner determined she died of “acute intoxication” caused by a cocktail of drugs.
The indictment shared on Wednesday said Mr Allen is suspected of three murders in addition to the two murders he was charged with last year.
Mr Allen is said to have worked alone and with a group of others when he carried out a number of robberies between March and December last year. He allegedly drugged his victims with fentanyl and other opioids to steal their credit cards, watches, phones, and other items. He pleaded not guilty on Wednesday.
He would then proceed to empty their accounts at ATMs and make multiple charges to the victims’ credit cards, according to authorities.
The “drugging, robbery and larceny spree” affected a total of 21 victims, five of whom died, according to the Manhattan DA.
The three additional murders Mr Allen was charged with on Wednesday allegedly took place on July 22, July 23, and August 6 last year.
The New York Supreme Court indictment includes 10 counts of second-degree murder, 13 counts of first-degree robbery, two counts of second-degree robbery, 11 counts of second-degree assault, two count of attempted robbery in the first degree, three counts of grand larceny in the fourth degree, three counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, and one count of conspiracy in the fourth degree.
The 10 counts of murder, two for each of the five people killed, include one count of acting with reckless disregard for human life, and one count of acting in furtherance of another crime.
“These alleged devastating drug and robbery schemes have left many families grieving the loss of loved ones,” District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement. “The careful and meticulous work of our prosecutors and the NYPD led us to charge this individual with a string of criminal conduct that now includes five murders — four of which occurred in 15 days last summer. We will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to aggressively identify and investigate these incidents.
The Manhattan DA said in a press release that “in most of the incidents, Allen drugged his victims with fentanyl and other opioids in order to steal their credit cards, watches, phones, and other personal information in identification. Many of the victims were found unconscious on the street. He would then withdraw money from ATMs and use the stolen credit cards to make purchases and transfer money”.
Vogue wrote that Ms Gallagher was “a hands-on artisan” who was “fiercely independent and sure of her vision”. Her pieces have been worn by Chrissy Teigen, Kourtney Kardashian, Rita Ora, Laverne Cox, and members of the New York Ballet.
“Katie founded her own fashion line, Katie Gallagher, in New York City in 2010. Under this label, she completed 26 collections that premiered at New York Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week,” said his obituary.
“She is amazing, beautiful, smart, shameless, and always wanted. She is hardworking and talented, with many ideas and plans for future projects,” it added. “We are very proud of who she is and everything she has achieved in his short but full and beautiful life.”
Police said that in one of the robberies, the perpetrators rubbed a white powder containing fentanyl under the nose of a victim, and in another case, they offered marijuana that was also laced with drugs.
They targeted people active in the nightlife of Lower Manhattan as if they were wealthy and waited for them to leave the club before pushing them against a wall to take what they had.
The New York Police Department’s chief of detectives, James Essig, said Thursday that “they’re messing with them,” according to The New York Times.
Mr Allen was charged in December over the deaths of Nurbo Shera and Ardijan Berisha. On Wednesday, he was charged over the deaths of Ms Gallagher, 25-year-old student Alexander Rudnitsky, and Sadath Ahmed, 33.
Sean Shirley, 36, is accused of drugging the deaths of Mr Rudnitsky and Mr Ahmed. Facing charges of second-degree murder, robbery, and grand larceny, he was charged on Thursday. He also pleaded not guilty.
Assistant district attorney Brian Rodkey said in court that Mr Allen and Mr Shirley “robbed them, and left them on the street, not caring if they lived or died,” according to The New York Times.
The Gallagher family said in a statement that they hope the case will make people aware of how fentanyl and other drugs are being used “as weapons against innocent people”.
“The number of victims confirmed at this point is shocking. We are pained by the magnitude of this collective and senseless loss,” said the family, according to The New York Times.
In a separate case, five men were charged in April with drugging and killing people who went to gay bars in Manhattan.
