A man was arrested and charged with the murder of a mother who was leaving one of her jobs at an IHOP in New York City.

The tragic incident occurred on Thursday around 5:00 a.m. as Clarkson Wilson, 44, allegedly gunned down mother, Imani Armstrong, 25, on East 14th Street and Irving Place in the Gramercy Park neighborhood in Manhattan.

Police say Wilson snuck up to Armstrong as she exited the IHOP and walked down East 14th, where the 25-year-old woman was shot in the head at close range.

While the motivation for the shooting has not been officially determined, investigators believe it is the result of a domestic dispute, the New York Daily News reported.

Wilson, who is of Brooklyn, is believed to have fathered one of Armstrong’s children, according to those who knew Armstrong, the New York Post reported.

The 25-year-old was reportedly the mother of three children and had another job as an exotic dancer.

On Saturday morning, police zeroed in on Wilson as the alleged perpetrator. He was taken into custody in Manhattan and charged with murder.

The 44-year-old man was also seen acting bizarrely in the neighborhood, including even “scaring” people approximately two weeks before the shooting.

According to local news outlets, Wilson has an extensive criminal history with multiple arrests dating back to 2000, when he was charged with attempted robbery.

In 2014, Wilson’s then-wife told police that he strangled her and stole her phone, the Post reported.

His most recent reported arrested occurred in 2021 for also strangling an unidentified individual, according to police via the Daily News.

Violent crime in New York City is up by 35.6 percent in all major categories since this time last year, according to New York Police Department crime data. Documented murders are the only major crime category that has decreased since this time last year, but only by approximately 10.5 percent.

While homicides have dropped in the city, Armstrong’s death in the NYPD’s 13th precinct was the second homicide to have been reported this year in the precinct after another one occurred the day before in the Chelsea neighborhood, the Daily News noted.

The Big Apple’s recent crime wave is making residents nervous about their safety, as 76 percent fear they could be the victim of a violent crime, according to a June poll.

You can follow Ethan Letkeman on Twitter at @EthanLetkeman.