Two men have been charged with murder in the second degree for the killing of a 19-year-old woman at the Seaport on Saturday night, in the abandoned warehouse — the New Market Building — just next to the Tin Building and Pier 17.

The woman has been identified as Rosalee Sanchez, who was homeless, police said. The police arrested Austin Boehm, 25, and Christian Mercado, 20, both of whom are also homeless. As of this morning, police did not have a motive for the killing. Boehm confessed to investigators as he was trying to check himself in at Bellevue

On Saturday, March 6, at approximately 9:20 in the morning, police responded to a 911 call of an unconscious female inside of 95 South St. Upon arrival, officers encountered an unconscious and unresponsive 19-year-old woman wrapped in plastic inside the building. EMS also responded to the scene and pronounced her deceased. The Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death and the investigation is ongoing.

The building has been unoccupied since the days of the Fulton Fish Market — since 2005 — and as of three years ago was scheduled to be demolished by the city. (It was also once scheduled to be a 42-story tower built by the Howard Hughes Corp., but those plans were quashed in 2015.) I am assuming it was not demolished because of community pushback primarily from Save Our Seaport, which has opposed the demolition. (Photo above from 1939, courtesy the NY Design Commission via Municipal Arts Society.)