Woman Guilty Of Burglarizing Homes While Families At Funerals

GREENBURGH, NY — A Bronx woman will be going to jail after burglarizing several homes while the families were attending funeral services.

Westchester County District Attorney Miriam Rocah said Latonia Stewart, 30, of Bronx, was found guilty by a jury Thursday of six counts of second-degree burglary and one count of fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, all felonies.

Stewart faces a range of 3-1/2 years to 15 years in state prison for each burglary count, the district attorney's office said.

She is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 22.

Prosecutors said, between December 2017 and May 2018, Stewart burglarized the homes of six Westchester County residents in Cortlandt, Greenburgh, Ossining, Rye Brook, Scarsdale and Tarrytown.

The residents were out of the house attending a funeral service or a wake of a spouse, information Stewart found by searching obituaries online.

Jewelry, watches, silverware and other valuables were stolen, police said.

Stewart used a sledgehammer to break windows and glass doors to gain entry into some homes, causing more damage once inside.

She was arrested May 1, 2018, by members of the Greenburgh Police Department, after she had been seen driving away from the home of someone who had died. Authorities said she had jewelry in her car and an obituary pulled up from a website on her cell phone.

Following her arrest, police recovered more stolen items and burglary tools in her car and at her Bronx home.

Rocah said she hoped this verdict brought some measure of comfort to the victims.

"It is absolutely appalling that people mourning the loss of a loved one were specifically targeted and taken advantage of in such a cruel and heinous manner," she said.

The Greenburgh Police Department and the district attorney's office investigated the case, with assistance from the New York State Police, Greenwich Police Department, Ossining Police Department, Rye Brook Police Department, Scarsdale Police Department and Tarrytown Police Department.

Stewart has a trial pending in Connecticut regarding two burglaries in Greenwich, the Journal News reported.