East Village man charged in fatal beating of his great-grandmother

A 23-year-old East Village man faces murder charges accusing him of fatally beating and tying up his 82-year-old great-grandmother with duct tape.

Officers found Ella-Nae Biaz unresponsive Friday evening with her wrists and ankles taped together in her apartment in the Lillian Wald Houses in the East Village, police said in a news release. Medics later declared her dead at the scene.

Officers also found a 39-year-old woman—the mother of the accused, DNAInforeported—who was bound inside the home, though she managed to free herself and call the police. She was taken to Bellevue Hospital. Information about her condition wasn’t available.

Gary Bias was later arrested and charged with murder and attempted murder, police said.

Police told the New York Post that the attacks were part of botched robbery attempt, in which Bias restrained and beat the women.

“If I see the kid I would break his neck,” neighbor Moses Ware told the Post, referring to Bias. “That lady was so nice.”

There was no indication that Bias has obtained a lawyer who could comment about the charges on his behalf.