Mount Vernon man accused of fatally shooting niece appears in court
Investigators executed a search warrant at Foster's Bell Avenue home Wednesday night, where weapons and other evidence were removed from the residence.
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A Mount Vernon man accused of fatally shooting his niece has made his first court appearance. Police say 58-year-old Michael Foster was arrested Wednesday, more than a day after 39-year-old Julia Anderson was shot and killed.
Authorities say Anderson was standing outside her parked Jeep near Murdock Avenue in the Wakefield section of the Bronx shortly before midnight Monday when she was shot multiple times in the chest. She was transported to a hospital, where she later died.
According to family members, Anderson was across the street from the group home where she worked when the shooting happened. They say she spent more than a decade caring for adults with developmental disabilities.
Investigators executed a search warrant at Foster's Bell Avenue home Wednesday night, where weapons and other evidence were removed from the residence. Police say both Foster and Anderson lived at the same house in Mount Vernon.
The property appears to be at the center of a longstanding family dispute between Foster and Anderson.
Court records show Foster accused Anderson last year of stealing family property documents. Anderson was arrested, but the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office said the case was later dropped because of a lack of cooperation.
Following her arrest, Anderson filed a lawsuit alleging investigators relied on “unvetted statements of a known felon with a violent history.”
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Foster is charged with murder, manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon. He was held without bail.
News 12 has also learned that Foster previously served seven years in prison for the fatal drive-by shooting of Conrad Reed, also known as Calvin Reed, the father of former NFL player Ray Rice. It happened in Mount Vernon. Authorities determined Reed was not the intended target in that shooting. Foster was released from prison in 1999.
