New York, USA: A mother-of-two has been shot dead in the street as she tried to escape from a man who kidnapped her, stripped her naked and then tried to rape her.

Police believe homeless director Ana Charle, 36, was fighting off a rape attempt from one of her former patients, who allegedly killed her after she broke out of the car he had imprisoned her in.

The suspect was also naked as he chased the mother of two down the street, according to witnesses.

After the attack, which took place in Bullard Avenue, in New York's Bronx district, the gunman returned to her car, put his clothes back on and walked away.

Convicted murderer West Spruill, 39, who had lived at the shelter until January, was later arrested and charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon, police said.

“They hear nothing but the shots,” a police official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a continuing investigation, said of the accounts provided by witnesses, several of whom had dialed 911.

“It is fairly close range,” he told the New York Times. “This is as bad a homicide as I’ve seen.”

Ms. Charle, who had bullet wounds to her temple, cheek and chest, was pronounced dead in hospital.

An autopsy is being carried out to determine whether she was raped.

Ms. Charle, from Barcelona in Spain, had two daughters, aged nine and 11.

Officials with the city’s Department of Homeless Services said Ms Charle had worked at New York non-profit homeless organisation Project Renewal for four years and was appointed director at the Bronx shelter in October 2013, about three months before it opened.

These officials said people who worked with Ms. Charle remembered her as “a dedicated and loving person, who was a hardworking advocate on behalf of homeless New Yorkers.”

They said that they were working with the police “to determine the cause of this senseless and horrific act,” and that they were also working with Project Renewal to provide counseling to the shelter’s staff.

The suspect had served 11 years in prison for attempted murder and assault from 1994, the New York Daily News said.