Brooklyn mom, 52, never saw killer ex-girlfriend who ran up from behind and shot at close range, say cops, witnesses

A Brooklyn mother of two was executed in broad daylight on a Park Slope street Wednesday afternoon when an ex-girlfriend ran up to her from behind, pulled out a gun and shot her point-blank in the head, police and witnesses said.

Police late Wednesday charged Latisha Bell, 38, with murder and weapon possession, after she surrendered to investigators at the 78th Precinct. The gun was recovered, said police sources.

Horrifying surveillance video captures Nichelle Thomas’ last moments around 1 p.m. as she walked along Fourth Avenue in no apparent hurry to a deli at the corner of Fourth Ave. and St. Marks Place.

All the while, Thomas, the mother of an adult daughter and son, was stalked by her determined killer, video from the scene shows.

The shooter dashed from the street to the sidewalk, sprinted past an unsuspecting pedestrian and ran up to Thomas.

Just as Thomas opened the door to the deli, the killer raised a pistol to the back of her head and fired.

Thomas, 52, slumped in a heap to the ground.

She never saw it coming.

“I had a lot of people here inside the place and we thought it was like a firecracker or something and then we saw the lady fall over,” said deli worker Mohammed Ali, 57.

“The man next to the ATM machine said the lady went down,” Ali said. “At that point I said there’s got to be something wrong so I looked at the cameras.

“When I went outside, I saw the blood coming from her head. I know the lady. She was a very nice person. She was always here. I’ve known her a long time.”

Witnesses said the scene was chaotic.

“I heard two shots, looked out the window saw the cops and ambulance and came out and just saw everyone else looking around trying to see what was going on,” said Tiffany Williams, 39, who lives across the street.

Williams said EMTs tried desperately to save the victim’s life.

“I saw them doing chest compressions when they got her on the stretcher,” she said. “I saw just the arm and chest compressions then I saw them put her in the ambulance and drive off.”

Medics rushed Thomas to New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where she died at 1:26 p.m.

The shocking execution was the first shooting and the first homicide in this year in Park Slope, a neighborhood located in one of the city’s least violent precincts.

Overall crime in Park Slope is down by 5% as of Sunday, although cops have seen a 50% increase in assault complaints, from 18 last year to 27 this year, according to police data.

But the statistics were little solace to Thomas’ neighbors and family, who described her as a pleasant woman who could often be seen walking her dogs.

“She was a very nice lady,” said a shaken neighbor of Thomas, who lived near the scene. “She didn’t deserve this.”

The victim’s daughter said she was still absorbing what happened.

“I’m confused,” the daughter said. “I don’t know what happened. I can’t talk right now.”

A neighbor said the victim and her former girlfriend had a toxic relationship.

“They lived together for years,” the neighbor said. “But they were always fighting. They had a big falling out about three years ago and she left.”

Ali, the store clerk, said Thomas was a regular at the store for nearly a decade.

“It was very scary because there were a lot of people in here during lunchtime,” he said.

With John Annese