A transgender social media influencer arrested for the brutal stabbing death of her father last month committed the murder following an argument over a laptop, prosecutors have revealed in court.
The hearing on Monday saw Nikki Secondino, a 22-year-old Instagram model from New York, sent back to Rikers Island where she has been held without bail since killing 61-year-old Carlo Secondino late last year.
Along with the fatal attack on her father, Secondino is also accused of critically stabbing her 19-year-old sister Liana in the back, head, and stomach sometime before 6am on December 29.
A six-count indictment unsealed during Monday’s hearing now reveals that Secondino not only stabbed her dad, but bludgeoned him to death as he slept on a couch in the family’s Brooklyn home.
She initially claimed two men broke into their home and were responsible for the horrific crime – before confessing she was the one responsible.
Nikki Secondino, the transgender daughter of Carlo Secondino, is seen in an Instagram photo
The December 29 incident saw Secondino kill her father Carlo, 61, and critically wound her sister, 19-year-old Liana . She is currently undergoing rehab at Maimonides Hospital
The heinous acts, prosecutors wrote, stemmed over an argument the influencer had with her father over a laptop prior to Secondino’s stabbing spree.
‘This defendant is charged with brutally killing her own father and then stabbing her younger sister, allegedly following an argument over a laptop,’ Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement.
‘My office will vigorously prosecutor this horrific case and seek justice for the victims.’
Prosecutors kept mum on the exact details of the argument, but proceeded to provide gut-wrenching new details on the sordid case.
Police had initially suspected the incident was connected to a home invasion, due to an account provided by Secondino at the time.
Secondino, who has amassed almost 16,000 followers on Instagram, was seen smiling at reporters following her December arrest
Secondino claimed that two men broke into the Bensonhurst home demanding money from a safe, before fatally attacking her father and stabbing her sister. She also claimed the pair sexually assaulted her.
However, investigators in Monday’s indictment wrote that Secondino – who was at first hospitalized but later arrested – fabricated the story as a ruse to shift blame away from her.
Prosecutors wrote how Secondino first ran outside to meet cops called to scene by Secondino herself.
Secondino had a successful career as a social media influencer, with several paid partnerships
The crime took place on 17th Avenue near 82nd Street in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn (pictured)
At first, she was hospitalized, but officers wrote that she was soon put into custody.
Following her arrest, Secondino was interrogated, and soon admitted that she had lied. She proceeded to offer officers a disturbing confession, in which she admitted to wanting her family dead following the argument.
‘I came out of the bedroom, and I saw my father sitting on [the] couch sleeping, and I bashed [his] head in with [a] hammer,’ she allegedly told investigators during the December sitdown.
‘I grabbed my favorite German steel knife and stabbed the s**t out of him,’ she said, according to the complaint.
Carlo (pictured) reportedly supported his daughter, who began to transition when she was just five years old. He was pronounced dead at the scene, after being bludgeoned with a hammer and stabbed with his eldest daughter’s ‘favorite German steel knife’
Liana, who just turned 20, was left with ‘multiple’ stab wound on her body, hands and face, prosecutors wrote in the indictment. She required surgery but survived. Prosecutors wrote it was her account that helped them discern the story her sister initially told them had been a lie
‘My sister came out of her bedroom and tried to stop me,’ she added of Liana, who had recently started school at Leigh University in Pennsylvania. ‘I stabbed her in the back, head and stomach. I wanted them dead,’ she said.
The sister was left with ‘multiple’ stab wound on her body, hands and face, prosecutors wrote in the indictment. She required life-saving surgery but survived.
Prosecutors wrote that it was her account, delivered from her bed at Maimonides Hospital, that helped them discern that the story her sister initially told them had been a fabrication.
When cops arrived at the scene around 5:30 am, officials wrote that a wounded Liana was the first to meet the arriving officers.
Still conscious and spewing blood, according to the complaint, the then teen – who was days away from her 20th birthday – told police: ‘My sister stabbed me.’
Heartbreakingly, she went on to add: ‘Have you seen my dad?’
Carlo, meanwhile, was pronounced dead at the scene. He supported his daughter and her transgender journey, Secondino said in a interview with the United We Rant podcast in 2020.
Secondino initially tried to cover up the alleged crime as a home invasion, calling 911 to report a break-in
The unsealed indictment went on to note that cops soon became suspicious of Secondino, upon noting the absence of a safe in the home and the lack of serious wounds on the fashion influencer, who had a successful career on social media and several paid partnerships with multiple fashion and beauty brands.
They would later take her into custody following a brief hospitalization, and manage to garner a confession.
Prosecutors further revealed that police had been called to the household multiple times in the past, with the most recent incident coming this past September.
Police sources said that cops called to the house that Carlo slapped Secondino. Friends of the family, meanwhile, said that the suspect was lazy and had often frustrated her father, who wanted her to get a more conventional job.
Two months earlier, cops were called to the residence after Carlo allegedly threatened to kill Liana. In a separate incident that same months, Liana was charged with assault and criminal mischief for ripping off her family’s living room blinds during a fight with Secondino.
The incident saw the influencer – who sports several sultry pics on her social media accounts file a temporary order of protection against her family. At the time, Secondino told police that her father was in ‘the mob.’
A judge who signed off on the order later said that Carlo was not believed to be connected to the Mafia.
With her next hearing slated for April, Secondino is facing charges of second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault, and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon for the incident, as well as 50 years to life in prison.
Liana, meanwhile, remains hospitalized, and is currently undergoing rehab after a successful surgery. Friends have since raised more than$100,000 for the college sophomore to help with her recovery.