Thursday, June 10, 2010

New York City, NY: Enraged sex offender pummels girlfriend with bat after she doesn't get beer, kids watch in horror

BY KERRY WILLS AND JONATHAN LEMIRE
DAILY NEWS WRITERS

Originally Published:Wednesday, June 9th 2010, 9:50 PM
Updated: Wednesday, June 9th 2010, 9:50 PM

A sex offender bludgeoned his live-in girlfriend to death with a baseball bat because he suspected she was seeing another man, police said Wednesday.

Isaiah Smith, 48, pummeled Tiffany Pettiford, 28, in their Queens home as his two children - and his other girlfriend - watched in horror, police and witnesses said.

Smith - who was convicted in 1990 of raping a 10-year-old girl - was livid after Pettiford disappeared for a few days and allegedly took up with another man, one police source said.

Smith confronted Pettiford, and may have snapped after the woman went to the store and forgot to get him beer, a second police source said.

Smith has a 1-year-old boy with Pettiford and a 10-year-old developmentally disabled son with another woman - and they all lived in the same basement apartment on 214th St. in Queens Village, neighbors said.

Several neighbors said they heard a commotion in the apartment and dialed 911 at 10 p.m. Tuesday.

Smith and Pettiford often fought, the neighbors said.

"She was very quiet," said Josephine Armstrong, 69. "I would see her come out angry and walk away, but she's a very private person."

Smith was charged with second-degree murder and possession of a weapon Wednesday night.

jlemire@nydailynews.com

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