An arrest in the slay of Bronx man whose burning dismembered body was found under a bridge came just in time for the victim’s daughter’s 16th birthday, grateful relatives say.
Muhammad Aadil was nabbed Friday morning in the Bronx and charged with murder and manslaughter for allegedly killing 46-year-old roommate Lutalo Henderson.
Firefighters responding to a call of an object on fire discovered Henderson’s singed remains absent his feet, hands and teeth under the Oak St. bridge in Yonkers around 2 a.m. Aug. 5 — the day after Henderson’s own birthday.
“It broke my heart. Every day has been a nightmare, waking up to it every day,” the victim’s sister, Aziza Henderson, told the Daily News in an exclusive interview. “We all loved him and we were all really hurt and shocked.”
Cops quickly recovered video footage that showed two people rolling the corpse in a folding cart from the nearby Mount Vernon West Metro-North station to the spot where it was dumped and burned.
Investigators painstakingly traced the trip the suspect and an accomplice made on the Metro-North back to the apartment on Rogers Place near Dawson St. in the South Bronx that Lutalo shared with the suspect.
Police said Lutalo’s apartment — where they found his hands in a crock pot, his leg in a freezer and his teeth — was a known spot to score and shoot narcotics. Investigators found cocaine, heroin and a pistol in a bedroom there.
Investigators entered the apartment, finding Henderson’s severed hands in a crock pot with bleach. Cops also found Henderson’s teeth, which had been removed in order to throw off investigators.
“Whoever did this wanted to try their best to make sure the victim was never identified,” retired NYPD Chief Terry Monahan told NBC New York after the discovery was made. “The reason anyone would take out teeth, hands and feet from an individual is to prevent identification. Once you remove the hands, you no longer can check fingerprints. You take off the teeth, you can’t check dental records to see who the individual is.”
It is still no clear how Lutalo was killed before he was dismembered. The cause of death has only been listed as “homicidal violence,” a source said.
Aadil, 40, had a large quantity of drugs on him when he was nabbed by cops in the Bronx Friday. He has done three stints in prison, all for New York City drug sale convictions, records show, and was most recently released in 2019.
Aadi’s arrest in Lutalo’s slay came just days before the victim’s daughter’s 16th birthday.
“This would be a beautiful gift for her, finding his killer’s been arrested right before her birthday,” Aziza said. “I’m thankful the detectives were able to do their job so fast. I woke up Monday morning and I felt different — something told me something was about to change. God answers prayers.”
“It just hasn’t been comfortable lately knowing he was out there,” she said of the suspect. “When I came home I felt like I was looking over my shoulder.”
Lutalo, a fiber optics technician, started renting out a room to Aadil about six months ago after they met at an Occupational Safety and Health Administration training and certification program, Aziza said.
Soon Aadil’s girlfriend started hanging out at the apartment, according to the victim’s sister.
“He didn’t want her there,” Aziza said of her brother. “He didn’t want Muhammed there. He wanted them to leave. That was the conflict.”
Footage obtained by the Daily News shows two individuals wheeling a cart down the sidewalk near the Bronx apartment building where human remains were found.
An ex-girlfriend of Lutalo’s said she broke up with the victim in July 2022 because of his drug use but the pair kept in contact.
“Right before this happened he told me he was going back into rehab. Right before, like maybe a couple of weeks,” said Tricia, the victim’s ex. “He called me and told me he made the decision, he was going back into rehab because he couldn’t fight this thing. He couldn’t do it on his own.”
Aziza admitted to her brother’s struggles with addiction but said he came from a good family and that she’ll always remember him as a kind and loving person.
“My brother would help you with anything,” she said. “He put the TV up in my daughter’s apartment. Every single bookcase in my mother’s apartment he put together. He was there, always there. That was the side of my brother that we remembered, that we connected to.”
