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Nicole Odom struggled to wrap her head around the horror: Her middle child, so joyous and sweet, slain and butchered by a madman who dumped the body parts in a Brooklyn park.
Nicole Odom struggled to wrap her head around the horror: Her middle child, so joyous and sweet, slain and butchered by a madman who dumped the body parts in a Brooklyn park. “I wouldn’t wish this tragedy on my worst enemy,” Odom told the Daily News on the morning after learning of her daughter Brandy’s gruesome death. A manhunt continued Wednesday for the savage killer of Brandy Odom, 26, whose remains were identified only after her sister spied the tell-tale tattoo — “chocolate” — inked on the victim’s left breast. “Life does not promise a tomorrow,” said the mom, growing teary-eyed. “You’ve got to love for today ... Everybody is not in their right state of mind that’s walking around New York City.” Cops believe the killing took place outside Canarsie Park, and Brandy’s dismembered remains were left there only a short time before the body parts were discovered strewn across its 132 acres. “I don’t know her having any enemies,” said Nicole Odom, standing forlornly at her Sheepshead Bay door. “I don’t know who could have possibly wanted to do this. Brandy was a joyful child. “She liked to cook, she liked to draw, she liked to do hair. She was a bright young lady, so I don’t know why anyone would want to do this to her.” The victim’s naked torso and head were discovered Monday evening by a dog-walker in the sprawling park, with her severed arms, legs and other body parts wrapped in plastic bags and left elsewhere. Detectives trying to retrace her activities in the hours before she was carved up reviewed surveillance video from around the park in hopes of spotting a suspect. “I want them caught,” said Nicole Odom, her voice calm despite the crushing news. “I need them caught — for my satisfaction, and so my daughter can rest in peace.”
The city Medical Examiner did not determine a cause of death Wednesday, although police sources indicate Odom was possibly strangled before the fugitive killer hacked up the corpse.Brandy Odom lived with an aunt at the Bayview Houses in Canarsie — about 15 blocks from the thatch of trees where her head and torso turned up. The body was partially covered in leaves, cops said.Family members hoped for the best but feared for the worst when police at the 69th Precinct put out word about the tattoo.Brandy “was a sweet girl,” said Terell Hunter, 33, who lived in the same building as Odom. “I just had tears in my eyes when I heard — it’s crazy. I can’t believe what they did to that girl.”He recalled Brandy as a hard worker who appeared in a security uniform and rejected his romantic overtures: “She was always telling me she has a boyfriend.”The victim’s face was swollen and bruised, with her arms severed at the elbows, cops said. Her legs were hacked just below her buttocks, a source said.“Oh my God — my heart just stops,” said Anna Anthanase, 62, a former Flatbush neighbor of the victim. “My heart just stops. She was nice ... She used to call me ‘Momma Anna.’”A vigil for Odom is expected to take place at the park Thursday evening.“Some wicked evil people did something to that girl,” said Anthanase. “This is very sad. I have goosebumps. I feel so sad to hear it. I can’t believe it.”
The victim was the middle of three sisters, a high school graduate and hairdresser who never caused any problems at home, according to Nicole.“The sweetest girl,” the mother said. “I want the public to know that this was somebody’s child. She has people that love her and care about her.“She wasn’t a runaway kid, she wasn’t a bad kid and I really want the public to know that.”Odom had no major history of problems with the law, although police reported one arrest for loitering with suspicions of prostitution in 2012.Many in the Brooklyn neighborhood shared Nicole Odom’s disbelief at the gruesome killing of a local woman.“Brandy is a very intelligent and educated young woman," said community advocate Tony Herbert, who offered support for the Odom family.“Everyone is bewildered with what has taken place and they hope that whoever is responsible is brought to justice."Nicole Odom, left to plan a funeral for her daughter, tried in vain to make sense of what happened.“You look at this stuff in the news everyday, you read it in the newspaper, but you never think it’ll be your kid,” she said. “Maybe it was just wrong place, wrong time. I don’t know.” Kaynak:Nydailynews