Jun 28, 2018 2 min read canarsie

Homicide Ruling in Canarsie Dismemberment Highlights Lack of Information

The death of Brandy Odom, who was killed in April, has finally been ruled a homicide—but further information is in short supply (Via Facebook)

CANARSIE – Today, police confirmed that the April death of Brandy Odom, 26, was indeed ruled a homicide. Officials gave the cause of death as strangulation.

Given the nature of the crime—Odom’s dismembered body was discovered in Canarsie Park—the official homicide ruling comes as little surprise. It does, however, highlight the general lack of information or progress in the case.

Odom’s body was discovered on Monday, April 9, in Canarsie Park, and identified two days later. Her head and torso had been found covered with a small amount of leaves and her limbs were also found in the park.

The entrance to Canarsie Park at Seaview Ave and East 86th Street, near where Odom’s body was discovered (Screenshot via Google Maps)

On Thursday that week, Odom’s family held a vigil in the park, releasing balloons in her memory and mourning as a group. But they also wanted answers.

“This case right here, I want the cops on it. 24/7. I don’t want this to be one of the cases that’s going to get swept under the rug tomorrow and forgotten about because as long as I’m living, as long as I have breath in my body, I will make sure that justice will get done for my daughter,” Brandy’s mother, Nicole Odom, told NY1.

Since that time, police have questioned suspects but made no arrests.

Both Odom’s roommate and her roommate’s boyfriend were hauled in for questioning in late April, leading to speculation as to why.

Sources told CBS that NYPD cadaver dogs had picked up Odom’s scent in one of their cars, while other sources told the Post that there was surveillance video of the roommate’s boyfriend loading something suspicious in his trunk.

Whatever the reason or suspicion police had, both of the suspects were released after questioning with no arrests made.

“If she was a little Caucasian girl, would the case move faster?” asked Nicole Odom in the Amsterdam News. “You found a whole dismembered body in the park, and it’s the media who are coming to my door, but the Police Department isn’t telling me anything.”

In a time when New York is touting its status as the “safest big city in America,” this disturbing unsolved crime has left a community in turmoil and a family looking for justice.