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Home › Relationships

Relationships | 05/15/2009 9:05 am

Nimzay Aponte, 23, Stabbed by Online Stalker, Cops Say

Raymond Dennis allegedly stabbed Nimzay Aponte to death after meeting her online.
By The Staff at wowOwow.com
© Shutterstock

Nimzay Aponte was looking for some fun on the Internet, but found death instead when she crossed paths with a man named Raymond Dennis, cops say.

Aponte, a 23-year-old New Yorker, first met Dennis on the website Local-Hookupz.com. She chatted him up online but never met him after determining that he was a "crackhead," according to her roommate, Carbet Tapia.

Dennis, however, saw them as more than that and tracked her down at a job fair this week. He saw her talking to some men and women, approached her and reportedly yelled, "Isn’t this lovely? What’s this? Some kind of double date?" He then left and Aponte thought he would never return, but Dennis found her the next day in a park, where Aponte was sitting on a bench with a man.

Dennis allegedly snuck up behind them, stabbed the man in the leg and then stabbed Aponte in the back and side. She was rushed to a local hospital and, as she died, told cops, "Mike did it," a reference to Dennis’ online persona, the New York Daily News reports. Cops later caught up with Dennis and arrested him.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time the Internet has been the impetus for a purported murder: Philip Markoff, the so-called "Craigslist Killer," allegedly found his victims online.

Read more about: Craigslist, Craigslist Killer Local-Hookupz.com, crime, Internet, Murder, New York City, News, Nimzay Aponte, Philip Markoff, Raymond Dennis, U.S.

7 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

SG3
So sad. These young folks don’t realize the dangers out there. Never give out your name and location.
By SG3 on 05/15/2009 9:24 am
RuthJernick
My son gave me wonderful advice when I first got a computer: "Don’t talk to any men online." If you assume men are not using the Internet for innocent chats, you will always be safe. Take this to the bank: Men are not like women. Men looking to play Internet games with women and make small talk online with women have ulterior motives. There may be a few exceptions. But I doubt it.
By RuthJernick on 05/15/2009 9:28 am
LibraLady
This part of our "wonderful computer age" is the downfall.  We have news and such wonderful research at our fingertips, but then we have websites that prey on women and men in the worst way…..I guess there are always a few bad apples in the mix, and this one is one of the scariest….I wish people were smarter when it came out to giving too much personal info on the website…..too many weirdos out there ready to latch on….especially when some people are so vulnerable.
By LibraLady on 05/15/2009 10:19 am
CHardy
It so sad that we give so much of our personal lives to strangers yet wont share it with loved ones.  Whats wrong with that picture?  I mean you have men/women with facebook pages but wont allow their wives/hubands to be their friends YET you will allow someone you dont know into your life????  I can’t seem to wrap my mind around that one.
By CHardy on 05/15/2009 10:21 am
SherryDale

I’m only friends with people I KNOW on facebook, or people that have been recommended to me by other’s (their relatives and friends.)  That includes my husband and my three children (two whom are grown.)  There never has been any reason they aren’t an open book to allow me to peer into their lives as well as their friends.  If I see something that is alarming to me, I will take action.  

This particular article is frightening, because I have talked to people before that I didn’t know, so I will tread "cautiously" before doing that again.  Very sad for this young lady and her family :-(

By SherryDale on 05/15/2009 11:01 am
nanchanu

One of the first lessons I taught my daughter when she started going onto the computer was about online safety.  We need to make that a part of safety classes for children at the same time we teach them to read.

I’ve been a victim of online "crap" a couple of times (see the Craigslist thread for my most recent one), but I treat people who threaten me online with the same caution I would a face to face threat.  There is a call to the police.  Nothing excuses this sad situation.  But the young lady should have called the police after the altercation at a job fare.

Psychos are out there.. and the internet gives them the anonymity they crave.  We have to protect ourselves.  Its a sad fact of life.

And yes, it saddens me.  There are several posters here at WOW that I would love to share more information with, but can’t because then ANYBODY could abuse that information.  I wish WOW would come up with some kind of email alert for members to privately contact each other… 

By nanchanu on 05/15/2009 11:06 am
MarcMartinez

You people that say meeting people online is dangerous, you’re right, so is walking down the street.  This story is tragic and sad, also an isolated issue.  You think these social networking sites like Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, etc..would be so popular if this was a common thing??  Don’t be stupid.  There are evil people online and people right down the street from you who probably don’t even know how to use a computer.  You have to be very cautious in life and sometimes even that won’t save you.

 RIP Nimzay, very pretty girl.

By MarcMartinez on 05/16/2009 4:05 am