Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
[UPDATE] Son Of Dismembered Woman Allegedly Took Photo With Her Head
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Feb 28, 2013
Modified Feb 28, 2013
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Stephen Cameron / Gothamist
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Feb 28, 2013
Modified Feb 28, 2013
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
[UPDATE BELOW] Police have arrested the 23-year-old son of the woman whose dismembered body was found in four different bags in the Bronx on Tuesday, along with his 26-year-old friend. Neither the son, Bashid McLean, nor his friend, William Harris, have been charged with murder because the Medical Examiner is still determining how 45-year-old Tanya Byrd died. Both men are charged with unlawful dissection of a human body, and several reports indicate that police believe the men shared the role of cutting up Byrd's body. Police sources told the Post that McClean took a cellphone photo of himself "holding his mother's head under his arm like a trophy."
The Wall Street Journal reports that both men were questioned for hours, and both admitted to disposing of Byrd's body, but they accused each other of killing Byrd. According to the WSJ's police source, McLean said Harris arrived at the apartment he shared with his mother, and the two were supposed to enroll in a GED program. McLean allegedly said he left the apartment briefly and returned to find his mother dead, and that Harris told him he stabbed her because she complained about him selling marijuana. McLean said that Harris threatened to kill him and his 6-year-old brother if he did not help him dispose of Byrd's body, the source said.
Harris allegedly told police that McLean confessed to the killing to him, and that he agreed to help dismember the body, and accompanied McLean to a hardware store to buy supplies. Harris is also charged with possession of marijuana and criminal possession of stolen property, as he had Byrd's cellphone on him when he was detained.
Police reportedly found bloodstains and an electric saw blade in the apartment the mother and son shared, and noticed that a shower curtain was missing and that the residence "reeked of bleach." The law enforcement source said that Byrd's torso was found wrapped in a shower curtain.
Byrd worked as a home-heath aide, and her six-year-old son has Down Syndrome. Byrd's sister, Cassandra McLean, told DNAinfo that she believed that McLean had methodically planned her sister's death. “This was a premeditated murder. A year ago, he was looking up how to commit a murder without getting caught."
Byrd's sister added that she believed McLean is schizophrenic, and was angry at his mother for putting him in a foster home during his childhood. “He used to start fires for no reason at the group home where he lived...But my sister, as his mother, loved him so much. She thought nothing of this.”
[UPDATE]The Post is reporting that Bashid McLean has been charged with second-degree murder, and that police assert that he stabbed and dismembered his mother between 6 and 10 p.m. on Monday. McLean wore a Tyvek suit to his court appearance today, because, as his attorney Jerry Iannece said, “He kept urinating on himself."
Iannce said that McLean had been off medication for several days, and asked that he receive it while in custody, but it is not clear what medication he was referring to. “I didn’t do anything wrong!” McLean is quoted as saying during the hearing. “I don’t need anything at all. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Tagged
bronx
gruesome crimes
tanya byrd
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 4:15 p.m. ET
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
The Garden State now requires that corn masa dough and flour made and sold in the state be fortified with folic acid.
By
Arya Sundaram
News
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
The Garden State now requires that corn masa dough and flour made and sold in the state be fortified with folic acid.
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
NYC nor’easter dries up after weather service reports minor flooding
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .