NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) — Arizona prosecutors announced Wednesday that they will not agree to extradite Raad Almansoori, the key suspect in the murder of a Queens woman in a SoHo hotel earlier this month, after he was accused of stabbing two women in the state over the weekend.
Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said during a press conference on Wednesday that it would be safer to keep Almansoori, 26, in Arizona custody based on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s track record handling violent crime.
Almansoori, who was first identified as a suspect in the SoHo murder after he was spotted wearing leggings belonging to the victim last week, was arrested by Scottsdale police sometime Sunday after allegedly stabbing two women in the state.
On Tuesday, New York City police officials said at a news conference that they were looking to extradite Almansoori in the killing of Denisse Oleas-Arancibia, 38. He has yet to be charged with the Feb. 8 crime.
According to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny, Almansoori made statements to AZ investigators that linked him to Oleas-Arancibia’s death.
“I know there’s been discussion about New York wanting to extradite this individual,” Mitchell said. “This is not aimed at the New York Police Department at all. I know they did a hard job and they did a good job. But we will not be agreeing to extradition.”
Mitchell said that she has instructed her extradition attorneys to decline the transfer of custody, calling out Bragg by name.
“We’re gonna keep him here. These are mandatory prison sentences. Having observed the treatment of violent criminals in the New York area by the Manhattan DA there, Alvin Bragg, I think it’s safer to keep him here and keep him in custody.”
Manhattan DA Spokesperson Emily Tuttle denied Mitchell’s claims that Bragg is soft-on-crime.
“It is deeply disturbing that D.A. Mitchell is playing political games in a murder investigation,” Tuttle said. “In Manhattan, we are serious about New Yorkers’ safety, which is why murders are down 24% and shootings are down 38% since D.A. Bragg took office.”
“New York’s murder rate is less than half that of Phoenix, Arizona, because of the hard work of the NYPD and all of our law enforcement partners,” she said. “It is a slap in the face to them and to the victim in our case to refuse to allow us to seek justice and full accountability for a New Yorker’s death.”