Yesterday, a man visited an Astoria pharmacy to see his ex-wife. Alexander Figueroa gave Giummia Villa a bouquet of flowers and then shot her in the face. Villa died at Mount Sinai Hospital Queens, and police found Figueroa dead inside his apartment, with a long confession letter. The pair had two sons and Villa previously had an order of protection on Figueroa. Her sister told the Post, "He beat her up just a week and a half ago at her job and told her he would kill her if she didn't go back with him. He was angry she had rejected him."
Villa worked at the Crescent Chemists on 34th Avenue, and Figueroa entered the pharmacy before 4 p.m. A witness told the Daily News, "They talk and then I heard 'Pop!' I saw her on the ground. She went down dead. Blood was all over." Cops searched for Figueroa, who had served time for murder, until finding him with a self-inflicted head-wound in his apartment in the Ravenswood Houses at 6:30 p.m. The News also detailed the former couple's rocky history:
In April 2009, Villa - a Dominican Republic immigrant who survived two kidney transplants - took out an order of protection against Figueroa; it was still in effect.
She got another order of protection in Queens last year, but it expired last month, sources said.
"He didn't respect that," said Maria Dinorah Reinoso, a family friend. "He was threatening her over the phone," she said. "He wanted to kill her."
Figueroa, who had served time for attempted robbery and weapon possession, was arrested in November 2009 for violating the order by pushing Villa and taking her phone and wallet during an argument, sources said.
The case was due to be dismissed last month as long as he stayed out of trouble, but the final disposition was unknown.
Villa had recently sent a text to her sister about difficulties with her ex, "A.J. [her son Alexander] won't listen to me when I tell him not to call his father and tell him stuff about me. He says he wants to see the kids in the morning and if he doesn't, something's going to happen." And a friend of Figueroa's told the Post, "He was always complaining that she had orders of protection that kept him from his kids."
Villa's sister complained about the police and authorities to the News, "They could've prevented something dramatic like this from happening. It makes no sense."
