Nikki Secondino: trans woman arrested and charged after confessing to deadly attack on dad and sister

A 22-year-old trans woman is smiling in her arrest photos after confessing to police that she murdered her father, tried to kill her sister, and the Daily Mail reports that she also told cops she would have killed the neighbor who called 911 if she’d had the chance.

“I wanted them dead,” Nikki Secondino allegedly told cops after describing how, on Dec. 29, 2022, she struck her father on the head with a hammer, then stabbed him and her 19-year-old sister, the Daily Mail says, adding that Carlos was pronounced dead at the scene.

Liana, Nikki’s sister, was rushed to Maimonides Medical Center, where she remains in critical condition, the Daily Mail says.

“My father was sitting on the couch. I hit him on the head with a hammer. Then I reached for my favorite German knife and stabbed the s*** out of him,” Nikki allegedly told police.

Nikki SecondinoPhoto byLloyd Mitchell

“My sister came out and tried to stop me, and I stabbed her in the back, head and stomach,” she said, then added chillingly, “If I would have seen the 911 caller, she would have been next.”

The 911 caller, Susie Lew, made the call after Nikki pounded on her door at 6 a.m. in the apartment building, and saw Carlos on the kitchen floor, the New York Post says.

“He was lying on the kitchen floor, blood all over his chest, completely all saturated and red. He was just laying there not moving,” Lew said.

“Her bloody fingerprints are all over my door from when she was banging on the door, hoping I would open it. And then when she stopped the banging and I didn’t hear any more movement in the hallway, I slowly opened my door and heard the father yell my name out, ‘Susie, call the cops!’” Lew explained to the Post.

Nikki initially told cops two intruders had entered her father’s home and sexually assaulted her, a story she later admitted to formulating after attacking her family, the Post reports.

“I didn’t plan it. I didn’t have to. I don’t remember where I put the knife. I am sure they will find it,” Secondino said to cops.

In July 2022, Secondino requested a temporary order of protection against her dad and sister, accusing Liana of threatening to kill her and claiming her father had connections to the mob, the Post says.

Two incidents of threats and violence preceded the request, the Post adds. Nikki called the cops on July 15 and said her father had threatened to kill her, and two days later, Liana was charged with criminal mischief and assault after allegedly tearing down the blinds and cutting Nikki’s hand.

A judge granted the order of protection while noting that Nikki’s dad had no connections to the mob as she claimed, the Post says.

Carlos Secondino worked as a deliveryman for a local eatery, according to the Post. The 61-year-old was divorced from Nikki and Liana’s mother, and Nikki described him as “very religious” and “very Italian” in a 2020 interview about coming out as trans to her parents, according to the Post.

Briana Pacheco, a colleague from Mike’s Diner in Brooklyn, where Carlos worked, called him a “beautiful man” who recently was having troubles with Nikki at home, the Post says.

“He’d say his daughter, you know, that she had problems or whatever but it was nothing to a certain extent that we expected this to happen,” Pacheco told the Post.

Pacheco told the Post that on the day before his death, Carlos “kind of seemed uneasy, like there was something going on at home but it wasn’t nothing that somebody could have done,” and he mentioned Nikki was having problems.

A neighbor told the Post that Carlos was supportive of Nikki, though he wanted her to get a job.

“She was very lazy. He wanted her to get a job. That was the biggest beef. If you are 20-something, not going to school, you gotta have a job,” the neighbor said.

The owner of Mike’s Diner, Yadira Gomez, corroborated this to the Post.

“I know that there was always fights. He was always working here all day, but during the day he would always say she’s crazy, she’s got some issues, problems, she doesn’t want to work,” Gomez said.

On her Instagram page, Nikki claimed to have attended the Fashion Institute of Technology and to have a contract with a modeling agency, the Post revealed. She had over 15,000 followers on Instagram, the Post says, and claimed to have gotten paid well from some of her modeling gigs.

Nikki SecondinoPhoto byRobert Mecea, New York Post

In the 2020 interview, Nikki explained that her parents were “speechless” when she came out to them as trans and that she planned to transition from a man into a woman, the Daily Mail says.

“My dad was speechless. He didn't know what to say. My mom didn't know what to say, and around that time like it really wasn't talked about,” Nikki said.

She said her parents were religious and attended church every Sunday, then described a time when she was five and had a meltdown in Target when her mother forced her to wear boy’s swimming trunks against her wishes, the Daily Mail says.

As of Jan. 4, 2023, Nikki was released from hospital where she had been treated for slashes on her hands and sent to a Rikers Island prison to be held without bail, charged officially with second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder, and two counts of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, the Post says.

A GoFundMe has been set up for Liana Secondino during her recovery, as shared by an acquaintance of hers on Twitter, and some funds may go towards her father’s funeral. It can be found here if anyone wants to make a donation to her recovery: https://www.gofundme.com/f/please-help-liana-secondino?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_content=undefined&utm_medium=copy_link_all&utm_source=customer&utm_term=undefined