Add The New York Post on Google A New York mother, who moved to Ireland with her teen daughter, was beaten to death inside her home as police launched a search for a “person of significant interest” whom she knew.
Jamey Carney, a 43-year-old Westchester County native, was found covered under her bedsheets, suffering from multiple head wounds inside her rented home in the Irish town of Killarney on Tuesday, the Irish Independent reported.
Carney, who had moved into the Killarney home with her daughter in September, was pronounced dead just after 1 p.m., the Gardaí, Ireland’s National Police, said.
Police had been called to the home after Carney’s 13-year-old daughter found her mother in bed and called a friend asking for help.
Blood stains were splattered around Carney’s room and the killer allegedly used a duvet to cover Carney’s wounded torso and face before fleeing, the outlet reported.
Police secured the crime scene for a technical examination, and transported Carney’s body to the University Hospital Kerry for an autopsy just after 11 a.m. Wednesday.
Results of the postmortem examination were not publicly released, but officials upgraded the case to a murder investigation, according to the outlet.
Officials placed Ireland’s ports and airports on high alert over fears the alleged killer was attempting to flee the country into Northern Ireland or to Britain.
The unidentified person of interest, described as an asylum-seeking Middle Eastern man in his late 20s or early 30s, had lived in the Killarney area for over a year since arriving in Ireland, having previously lived in France and Turkey, the Irish Independent reported.
Carney and the man are believed to have known each other, and last saw each other on Sunday and Monday.
Neighbors reported hearing an argument between a man and a woman coming from the newly built Homeland estate Monday afternoon, with investigators looking into whether Carney was killed out of a fit of jealous rage, according to the outlet.
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Officials were searching for the man of interest after he wasn’t at his known address, an international asylum protection facility, and were reviewing his travel documents and the people he knew in both France and Turkey, the Irish Sun reported.
Carney, who previously worked as a realtor in New Jersey realtor and an insurance sales agent, moved to Ireland in 2021 with her now-13-year-old daughter after vacationing to the country and falling in love with the Emerald Isle, according to her Facebook account.
She was employed as an RX coordinator at a local company at the time of her death.
She was remembered as a devout mother who was active in her daughter’s sports and often seen around town.
“I knew her personally and did a lot of work for her. She was a loving, caring mother and was always happy and smiling,” local politician Martin Grady told the Irish Independent.
Others recalled Carney being vocal in the community, especially campaigning for Palestinian rights.
Carney met her alleged killer at an anti-war protest several months ago, according to the Irish Sun.
Residents of the town had been out enjoying the weather on Tuesday before the news of Carney’s death began to spread.
“There was a real almost festival atmosphere,” Killarney Mayor John O’Donoghue told the BBC. “When this news broke yesterday, it was just like a dark cloud came over the town.”
Carney is survived by her daughter and her mother and sister, who still live in the New York area. Her father died just under a year before her death, according to the outlet.
