2016 Bronx roof plunge now ruled to be homicide

A WOMAN who fell from a Bronx building during an argument with her boyfriend two years ago is a homicide victim, authorities said Friday.

Tyshay Culber, 21, died during surgery on Aug. 8 — a year and a day after she fell from the roof of a four-story Franklin Ave. building in Morrisania. At the time, her boyfriend, James Ellis, admitted to shoving her in a fit of anger as she stepped backward and fell off the roof.

Ellis said he grabbed her by her arms, but couldn’t pull her back to safety.

“Babe, I can’t hold on any more,” he said before letting go, according to court papers.

Ellis was charged with attempted murder, but the police dropped the case, Culber’s relatives said.

At the time, detectives claimed Culber, who was hospitalized and under sedation, couldn’t give them an accurate account of what happened, relatives said.

“Because (Ellis) stated he was trying to hold her . . . as opposed to him actually dropping her . . . they released him,” said Culber’s great aunt Lawanda Johnson, 48.

Culber (photo) was in and out of the hospital in the year before she died — and was never the same.

“She didn’t feel like herself ever since it happened. She lost so much weight,” said Culber’s aunt Shatisha Williams, 38.

“She had multiple surgeries since this incident, during the surgeries, her legs became deformed, parts of her body were deformed.”

Culber’s aorta shifted and was torn during the fall. In August, she underwent heart surgery and died during the procedure.

Five months after her death, the city Medical Examiner determined that Culber was thrown off the roof — and that her heart issues were linked to the injuries she sustained in the drop.

On Friday, NYPD detectives called Culber’s family and told them they are revisiting the case.

Ellis is in prison now on an unrelated weapons possession charge, authorities said.