Man charged with murdering niece over inheritance dispute
A police source revealed that the victim was shot inside her Jeep before falling out of the vehicle
A 58-year-old New York man was arrested and charged on Wednesday evening, July 15, 2026, after allegedly shooting his niece to death following a bitter inheritance dispute over their shared home. Michael Foster faces charges of murder, manslaughter, and 10 counts of criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the fatal shooting of his 39-year-old niece, Julia Anderson, in the Bronx.
PEOPLE reported that the fatal incident occurred just before midnight on Monday in the Wakefield section of the Bronx. Police officers responded to an emergency call near a local school and discovered Anderson deceased on the street with multiple gunshot wounds to her abdomen. A police source revealed that the victim was shot inside her Jeep before falling out of the vehicle, after which the shooter fled the scene on a moped.
CBS News reported that Anderson worked as an aide caring for people with developmental disabilities and had just completed her shift at a nearby group home when the shooting took place. Investigators revealed that the victim and the suspect shared a residence on Bell Avenue in Mount Vernon, which is located less than a mile away from the active crime scene. The primary motive behind the fatal confrontation was a severe inheritance dispute regarding ownership of their shared home.
Following the shooting, law enforcement officials executed a search warrant at the suspect's residence. According to the formal criminal complaint, officers recovered a Bushmaster AR-15 rifle alongside two semiautomatic pistols from Foster's home. The New York Police Department confirmed the arrest and the subsequent criminal charges in an official public statement, and the investigation remains ongoing.