A 36-year-old man named Jonathan Robles has been arrested for the murder of Lee Rogers, a 63-year-old homeless artist, in Central Park on Sunday morning. This killing marks the first murder in the park in five years and has shocked the close-knit community of birdwatchers, artists and homeless New Yorkers who knew Rogers as a beloved and familiar figure. Rogers was found dead near a gazebo with fatal head injuries, and investigators believe she was struck with a stick following an argument with Robles, who turned himself in later that day and was charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon.

Rogers, who had also been known as Francis Lee Rogers and Elise Bainbridge Hill, was a celebrated homeless artist who spent years living around Central Park, creating intricate watercolour paintings of its wildlife. Her remarkable life journey was documented in the 2007 film Begging Naked, which chronicled her escape from home as a teenager, struggles with addiction and homelessness, and her eventual development as an artist whose work became highly valued by park regulars. She was particularly known for her paintings of Pale Male, a famous red-tailed hawk, and others said she possessed an encyclopaedic knowledge of wildlife and animal behaviour beyond what one might expect of an artist. However, those who knew her noted that her health and demeanour had deteriorated in recent years, with witnesses describing her as more reclusive and withdrawn than the vibrant woman she had been a decade before.