By: Jonann Brady
Carol Gaskin was a hard-working single mother of a 9-year-old daughter from a tough Hempstead neighborhood. Like she did most weekdays, Gaskin got off a bus on Merrick Road in Lynbrook on Sept. 16, 2002, at around 8:30 a.m. to walk to her job as a home health-care aide for an elderly Denton Avenue man.
It was raining that morning and the streets were quiet, because it was a High Holy Day. Gaskin was wearing headphones, listening to music for her short walk before her workday began. But before she could make it to her destination, the 29-year-old woman was shot once in the back of the head with a 9-mm handgun by a lone gunman, and left lying in a pool of blood. No words were exchanged, police say, and there were few witnesses to the crime.
Sixteen months after her murder, Nassau County police have released video images of two men they believe are responsible for her death and are asking for the public's help in apprehending them. Police believe the two suspects have ties to New York or Atlanta, or both, and are hoping that someone in those two cities will recognize the men and call police.
"We need to bring justice to Carol Gaskin and her family," said Nassau County Detective Lt. Dennis Farrell at a news conference on Tuesday.
The images of Gaskin's last moments were captured by a video surveillance camera at a Denton Avenue business that Farrell would not identify. The video shows a stocky black man stalking Gaskin down the street.
About 20 minutes earlier, images of the suspected killer and a second man were captured by another security camera at a McDonald's on Merrick Road in Lynbrook.
Gaskin's murder was not a random killing, say police. "They waited for her to exit the bus," said Farrell. "They were familiar with her routine. ... They had done some reconnaissance."
Police would not speculate on the motive for the woman's killing, but did say that Gaskin, who was active in her local church, seemed an unlikely target for murder. "She was like a million single mothers," said Farrell. "Nothing in her past [suggested] involvement with the drug trade or gangs."
Farrell said that Gaskin was never married, and the father of her daughter does not live in New York state, but Farrell would not say if the man was a suspect. Gaskin's daughter now lives with an aunt in New Jersey, he said.
Nassau County police are cooperating with police in Atlanta to release the suspects' sketches and descriptions. The killer is described as a black male with a stocky build, 30 to 40 years old, 5 feet 9 to 6 feet tall, with a medium to dark complexion. He was wearing dark pants, a light-colored short-sleeve shirt with a horizontal stripe at the bottom, and appeared to be carrying a black backpack.
The second suspect is described as a black man of medium build, 30 to 40 years old, 5 feet 10 to 6 feet 3, with a light to medium complexion. He was wearing a white T-shirt, dark pants, work boots and a dark baseball cap with a logo on the front.
Police are asking anyone with information about the crime or the suspects to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 244-TIPS. All calls are confidential. There is a cash reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killers.
