81-year-old mega-cougar Maria Cartagena was allegedly paranoid that the women in her building were after her much younger 60-year-old husband, Rafael. According to the Post the woman "shot a hat off the head" (!) of her neighbor, Grammy award-winning Eddie Palmieri's wife, and now remains under medical and psychological observation at Rikers.
Yesterday several reasons were given for the attack, ranging from an ongoing noise complaint feud to ethnic tensions. But the city says they received just four noise calls last year, and haven't heard from anyone in the building since October 2009. Witnesses told detectives that the incident occurred because of jealousy, but the authorities will only say it likely stemmed from an ongoing feud.
Cartagena is being held on $25,000 bail and is charged with attempted murder, assault and weapons possession. She'll return to court on April 7th. Meanwhile, her husband was charged and released after police found an illegal knife in his apartment.
