ALBANY, N.Y. (News10)-Police say a Troy man used a U-Haul truck and his mother’s wheelchair to dump a woman’s body outside a vacant home in Albany. The man accused of the crime is now facing charges, including Manslaughter in the 2nd Degree.

Lines of candles lay neatly on the front steps of the vacant home at 199 Colonie Street where police say the body of Naghira Walker was discovered around 5:45am Saturday, April 22nd. Albany Police say they believe her body was purposely dumped outside the building. “I can’t get into too many specifics of the investigation because it is still ongoing. But they did develop information through that investigation that led them to a suspect in Troy,” said Officer Steve Smith, spokesperson for the Albany Police Department.

According to court documents obtained by News10, 45-year-old Tavel Harris of Troy is accused of recklessly causing Walker’s death and is facing charges of Manslaughter in the 2nd Degree and Concealment of a Human Corpse.

Investigators allege that Tavel Harris was aware of Naghira Walker’s declining medical condition due to a drug overdose yet did not seek any help and that his inaction resulted in her death. The documents go on to read that Harris, “having a reasonable expectation that the victim was to be subject to examination by law enforcement as part of a criminal investigation, specifically an overdose investigation”, concealed the corpse. The documents lay out that Harris allegedly used cleaning agents to wipe off Walker’s body and then removed her from his apartment in Troy using a U-haul truck and his mother’s wheelchair-ultimately driving Walker to the place where she was discovered deceased early Saturday morning.

“This neighborhood has been a mess since I was a little girl. It’s all pretty much drug dealers, drug addicts,” said Uber driver Ashley Perone. She told News10’s Anya Tucker that the street lined with several vacant buildings has been the site of another recent suspicious dumping incident, of an unwanted dog. “There was a dog tied up to a porch, one of these porches with a sign that said, ‘He’s a good boy, and he needs a good home.’ And we were like….we were banging on doors. Nobody answered. We ended up taking the dog,” she said.

Naghira Walker was 23 years old and is said to have been the mother of two children. Police say surveillance video and a search of the defendant’s residence helped them identify Tavel Harris and lead to his arrest.

If you have any information about this case, you are asked to please give Albany Police a call.