Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of assault, rape and murder. Reader discretion is advised.
Homicide: New York is a true-crime docu-series on Netflix that explores some of the most intriguing crimes in the history of New York through the perspective of the authorities and detectives who closely followed the cases. “East Harlem Serial Killer” is an episode of the series that delves deep into the crime story of Arohn Kee.
Arohn Kee gained widespread notoriety as the East Harlem Serial Killer due to his acts of serial rape and murder. He murdered and raped several young women between the years of 1991 and 1997. After he murdered Paola Illera, his first victim who was 13 at the time, he was briefly in custody, for unrelated charges. In the early 1990s, he was convicted of first-degree robbery charges. However, authorities failed to match his identity with that of the East Harlem rapist and killer.
DNA evidence played a major role in identifying Arohn Kee as the killer. When he was arrested on an unrelated case of theft, authorities got suspicious and tested the DNA evidence that he left behind on a water cup in the cell. It matched the DNA that was collected at some of the crime scenes and Kee became an immediate suspect. According to authorities, he would have been caught long ago if DNA collection had been a standard procedure in the early 90s too.
A SWAT team then got hold of Arohn Kee at The Sun Hotel in downtown Miami. The New York Times reported that the team stormed his sixth-floor room in the hotel. In an adjacent room, the SWAT team found Angelique Stallings, a young girl who was reportedly missing and believed to be dead.
How many people did Arohn Kee kill?
Arohn Kee was convicted in December 1999, of 22 counts of murder, rape, sodomy, and robbery. He was found guilty of the murder of three young women and the rape of four others. Paola Illera was 13 when she died. Johalis Castro was 19 when she was murdered and her body was found burned beyond recognition. Rasheeda Washington was another murder victim who was 18 at the time of the crime, the New York Times reported.
All of Arohn Kee’s victims were either Black or Hispanic. The ages of all seven victims ranged between 13 and 39 years. Kee was convicted and sentenced to 400 years in prison without an opportunity for parole. In 2009, it was reported that he had been profiting from his crimes by selling “rape cards” in which he described his sexual crimes in detail. He also signed the cards himself, NBC New York reported.
He didn’t mention the names of the victims on the cards. This was difficult for authorities to take action as the law could only prosecute convicts who were capitalizing on their crimes by using the victims’ names. The families of the victims also expressed their dismay upon the matter. Prison authorities then claimed that they would restrict Arohn Kee’s mail activity and consider solitary confinement.
“East Harlem Serial Killer” is an episode of the Netflix true-crime docu-series Homicide: New York. It was released on March 20, 2024, and is currently streaming on the platform.
