A husband has been arrested on charges of manslaughter after he beat a man to death with a tire iron for trying to rape his wife, police said.
Mamadou Diallo, 61, was outside his Bronx apartment building when his wife, 51, called and said a man who broke in hit her, dropped his pants, and said, 'I'm going to rape you.'
Diallo ran inside, caught up with the attacker identified as Earl Nash, 43, and fractured his skull with the steel lever as Nash tried to fight back with his belt, the
NY Daily News reported.
Nash died at Lincoln Hospital from 'severe trauma to his head and body' about three hours later, according to police.
Nash, who has a lengthy criminal history, slipped past the apartment building entrance around 10pm on Monday by following a resident in, according to
PIX11.
He knocked on a number of apartments asking for water before the wife, identified as Nenegale Diallo by
DNAinfo, opened the door thinking it was her son.
Nenegale's sister was also home at the time.
Nash forced his way in, locked the door behind him and started taking off his pants.
When Nenegale offered him money, he reportedly said: 'I don’t wan’t money. I’m going to rape you.'
Nash struggled with both women, attacking the sister first before hitting Nenegale in the head with a chair and and tearing off her clothes after she tried to run to the door for help.
The two women struggled with Nash for about 20 minutes and managed to fight him off long enough for Nenegale to call her husband.
Diallo, a cab driver, was in a car outside the building.
He rushed inside and found Nash on the sixth floor, where his wife was naked in the hallway.
She told the NY Daily News: 'While it was going on, I was thinking I was going to die. I told my husband, "Don’t let him out!"'
The two men fought inside the elevator, which was left covered in blood after Diallo fractured Nash's skull.
Nash was taken to Lincoln Hospital in critical condition, and died about three hours later at 1.30am Tuesday due to 'severe trauma to the head and body', the police said.
The 61-year-old cab driver was arrested on charges of manslaughter, and said, 'Self-defense. He threatened my wife. He threatened my wife,' as he left the 42nd Precinct today,
ABC reported.
Diallo's wife has sustained minor injuries, like bruises and bumps on her head, but she told DNAinfo: 'I'm OK. I had a headache.'
The couple's son said, 'I was shocked, I was mad, I had many different emotions going through my mind,' before adding he was relieved his father stepped in.
Family members defended Diallo on Tuesday, saying he was trying to protect his wife.
Diallo was arrested once before, although the records are sealed. Neighbors suggested he was an upstanding citizen.
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Nash, who had 19 arrests on his record, was convicted for bribery and drug-related charges.
He was released on parole in July 2015, and was most recently arrested on May 14 for harassment.
In 2003, Nash pleaded guilty to the unlawful imprisonment of a 17-year-old, who he held captive for two days, after which authorities said she was sexually abused, stabbed and beaten.