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Man Kills Wife and Child, Then Hangs Self in Manhattan, Police Say She Was Afraid of Her Husband. Days Later, She and Her 5-Year-Old Were Dead.
(about 3 hours later)
They were a family about to break up. The police found them Wednesday night behind their apartment door in Harlem —  a 5-year-old girl, her mother and father — all dead. The last time Jennifer Schlecht spoke with her father, on Sunday, she seemed determined to leave her abusive husband. But the tremble in her voice, her father said, revealed she was afraid for her safety and that of her 5-year-old daughter.
The 46-year-old father was found hanging in one bedroom, the police said. His 42-year-old wife was found in the bathroom, with her throat slit. The couple’s 5-year-old girl was found dead in another bedroom, also with her throat cut, the police said. “He told her he was going to ruin her or take all of them down,” her father, Kenneth Schlecht, said. “She didn’t know if he would carry on with the threats. She was in tears, a basket case.”
Police officials said they believed the man was responsible for all three deaths. They also said the couple was in the middle of a divorce proceeding. On Wednesday night, her worst fears were realized. The police said they found Ms. Schlecht’s decapitated body in the bathroom and the couple’s daughter’s body in a bedroom. The daughter’s throat had been slit. The body of her husband, Yonathan Tedla, was found hanging in a bedroom, the police said.
The man was Yonathan Tedla, and his wife was Jennifer Schlecht, the woman’s father, Kenneth Schlecht, said. The couple’s daughter, Abnysh, had just turned five in September. Police officials said they believed the husband was responsible for all three deaths. They also said the couple was in the middle of a divorce proceeding.
Mr. Schlecht, 75, said his daughter had expressed fear for her and her child’s safety in a telephone call to her parents. She had called her parents on Sunday. As crime statistics continue to plummet citywide, the horrific murder suicide in Harlem is a stark reminder that domestic violence remains a problem in the nation’s biggest city.
“She was in tears, a basket case,” her father recalled. “She didn’t know if he would carry on with the threats.” Nearly 560 New Yorkers were killed in domestic violence incidents from 2010 to 2018, according to an annual city report. More than half of those victims were killed by spouses or partners. Almost 50 of these victims — nearly all of them women — were killed by a partner who then took his or her own life, the report said.
Mr. Schlecht said Mr. Tedla had told Ms. Schlecht that he “was going to ruin her or take all of them down.” The police said they had no record of domestic incidents at the location in Harlem. But officials and family members said Ms. Schlecht had filed an order of protection in 2016.
“He said he was not going to lose, that he always wins,” Mr. Schlecht said. “He said he was not going to lose,” Mr. Schlecht said on Thursday morning. “That he always wins.”
Her family tried calling her all day on Wednesday, but she didn’t pick up, her father said. “It was not like her,” he said. After 9 p.m. the family called 911 and asked the police to check on her. “They had to break into the floor and found three bodies,” he said. Mr. Schlecht, 75, said the family hadn’t heard from Ms. Schlecht since their worrisome phone call four days earlier. The family phoned her repeatedly on Wednesday, but she didn’t pick up. “It was not like her,” her father said. After 9 p.m. the family called 911 and asked the police to check on her.
“How do you do this?” Mr. Schlecht said. “Kill your own child?” “They had to break into the floor and found three bodies,” he said. The couple’s daughter, who the grandfather called Abnysh, had just turned five in September.
He said his daughter had married Mr. Tedla about seven years ago. They met at Columbia University, where she studied public health and social work. “How do you do this? Kill your own child?” he said.
Mr. Schlecht said his daughter had married Mr. Tedla about seven years ago. They met at Columbia University, where she studied public health and social work. He added that his daughter was a giving person who often traveled to Kenya and other African countries to help the needy.
Ms. Schlecht worked for the United Nations Foundation in New York, officials said. According to her LinkedIn page, she was a senior adviser specializing in reproductive health, humanitarian response and other issues.Ms. Schlecht worked for the United Nations Foundation in New York, officials said. According to her LinkedIn page, she was a senior adviser specializing in reproductive health, humanitarian response and other issues.
Mr. Schlecht added that his daughter was a giving person who often traveled to Kenya and other African countries to help the needy. Her co-workers said that after years of helping women and girls in Africa get access to health care, she continued her efforts out of the foundation’s New York office to spend more time with her daughter.
Mr. Tedla worked as a computer contractor at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, in the population and family health department. In a phone interview, the chair of the department, Terry McGovern, said she knew the whole family and that “we’re kind of in shock here.” “She delighted in telling us about her daughter’s first day of kindergarten and the clothes she picked out all by herself,” said Beth Schlachter, an executive with the foundation. “That she should die under such brutal circumstances is beyond our understanding. But we will all remember her for her life — and the thousands of lives she enriched — rather than the horrible way she died.”
When the Schlecht family first met Mr. Tedla, he seemed like a “very smart, clever person,” Mr. Schlecht said. But later, he added, Mr. Tedla become violent toward Ms. Schlecht and she tried for years to leave him. He refused to go, ripping up the divorce papers each time she tried. Mr. Tedla worked as a computer contractor at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, in the population and family health department.
When the Schlecht family first met Mr. Tedla, who is originally from Ethiopia, he seemed like a “very smart, clever person,” Mr. Schlecht said. But later, he added, Mr. Tedla became violent toward Ms. Schlecht and she tried for years to leave him. He refused to go, ripping up the divorce papers each time.
“She could not change the locks as long as he legally lived there,” Mr. Schlecht said. “She was planning to serve him divorce papers and an order of protection first.”“She could not change the locks as long as he legally lived there,” Mr. Schlecht said. “She was planning to serve him divorce papers and an order of protection first.”
Officials said Ms. Schlecht had filed an order of protection in 2016. Police said they had no record of domestic incidents at the location. On Thursday morning, detectives could be seen walking out of the Harlem second floor brownstone carrying crime scene evidence in white plastic bags. Distraught neighbors cried and consoled each other as news crews roamed the placid block.
Nearly 600 New Yorkers were killed in domestic violence incidents from 2010 to 2018, according to an annual city report. More than half of those victims were killed by spouses or partners. The family’s turmoil had not been apparent, neighbors said. Mr. Tedla seemed to dote on his young daughter and was often seen in the neighborhood carrying her on his shoulders, they said. “He looked really, really happy all the time,” one neighbor said. “He was always smiling.”
To neighbors, the family’s inner turmoil was not apparent. They said Mr. Tedla seemed to dote on his young daughter and was often seen in the neighborhood carrying her on his shoulders. “He looked really, really happy all the time,” one neighbor said. “He was always smiling.”
Another neighbor, Jane Chancellor, 82, said on Thursday that she saw the family from time to time, and neither of the parents had mentioned they were going through a divorce.Another neighbor, Jane Chancellor, 82, said on Thursday that she saw the family from time to time, and neither of the parents had mentioned they were going through a divorce.
“I talked to him yesterday,” Ms. Chancellor said, breaking into tears. “I clean the sidewalk and he jogs everyday, and he stretches and we joke.” “I talked to him yesterday,” Ms. Chancellor said of Mr. Tedla, breaking into tears. “I clean the sidewalk and he jogs everyday, and he stretches and we joke.”
She said she could not fathom how he had killed his daughter, whom she called “a precious thing.”She said she could not fathom how he had killed his daughter, whom she called “a precious thing.”
“How could he!” she said.“How could he!” she said.
Laura Dimon contributed additional reporting. Kitty Bennett contributed research.Laura Dimon contributed additional reporting. Kitty Bennett contributed research.