On a late Sunday evening in September 2019, the life of Naire McCormick, a 44-year-old female resident of Brooklyn, New York, was brought to a tragic end inside her own home. A 15-year veteran of the NYPD School Safety Division, McCormick was also a celebrated plus-sized model, having won the 'Face of Kurvacious' contest the previous year. Her vibrant life, however, concluded in violence in her Clinton Hill apartment.
That night, McCormick was with her 47-year-old boyfriend, Jancy
Dempster, ostensibly to celebrate his birthday. As the evening progressed, fueled by alcohol, the celebration reportedly descended into a drunken rage. Neighbors heard screaming, prompting a 911 call for a harassment in progress. When police officers arrived at the Clermont Avenue apartment, they discovered a horrific scene. McCormick was found in her bedroom with a fatal gunshot wound to the head.
The suspect in her death, Jancy Dempster, was found alongside her, also dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Investigators quickly determined the incident to be a murder-suicide, concluding that Dempster had shot and killed McCormick before turning the gun on himself. A handgun was recovered at the scene. The tragedy was compounded by the fact that McCormick’s young son, reported to be between 12 and 13 years old, was in an adjacent room with the suspect's cousin when the fatal shots were fired. They fled the apartment after hearing the gunfire and were met by the responding officers.
Friends and neighbors remembered McCormick as a 'loving, outgoing soul' with a 'heart of gold,' while also recalling a tumultuous relationship between her and Dempster, noting they often heard fighting from the apartment. Dempster had a prior criminal record that included charges for weapons possession, robbery, and assault. Hundreds of mourners, including a large contingent of police officers, attended the wake for McCormick, who was remembered as a cherished mother and a dedicated school safety agent who positively impacted the lives of many students.
