[UPDATE BELOW] A 21-year-old woman and her baby daughters were found stabbed the death in a Jamaica, Queens apartment last night. Police also discovered numerous bloody knives at the scene. Investigators do not currently suspect it was a murder-suicide.
The NYPD says that they responded to a 911 call at 7:07 p.m. at 90-02 Sutphin Boulevard. (Someone, apparently a roommate, called about a "cardiac arrest.") Police officers found all three victims in a bedroom, all stabbed in the torso or chest: Deisy Garcia and her two-year-old daughter Daniela Mejia and one-year-old daughter Yeslin Mejia. The victims were pronounced dead at the scene.
The NYPD Crime Scene van (David Torres)
Garcia attended Iglesia Naciones Unidas en Cristo. One parishioner said, "She was a dancer for the church. She was always very quiet — but she seemed happy. She’d always come with her little girls... Today, we didn’t see her." A family friend added, "She was a great mother. She loved her kids. You could tell she loved her kids a lot. She was a really happy mother. She was proud of her daughters. She never left them alone."
Deisy Garcia and her two daughters
The son of one of Garcia's roommates told the Daily News, "She has a husband. He works every day. He doesn’t see them a lot." Queens DA Richard Brown said the husband was a person of interest; the News reported that the husband was speaking to police at the precinct. [See update below; this News report appears to have been premature.]
Miguel Mejia-Ramos
Update 2:40 p.m.: Police are asking for the public's assistance in locating Miguel Mejia-Ramos, a 28-year-old Hispanic male, who is now a suspect. Investigators say Mejia-Ramos is known to drive a white 2001 Chevrolet commercial van (License Plate: 22128MD) and a white 1995 Dodge Suburban (License Plate: GHS2798).
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto Crime Stoppers' website or by texting their tips to CRIMES (274637), then enter TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential.
The Daily News reports that Mejia-Ramos is Garcia's husband, and sources say he has one sealed arrest, for a suspended driver’s license, and one summons, for drinking from an open container. One friend from the church Garcia attended said she recalled Mejia-Ramos beating Garcia because she didn't want him drinking at a baby shower. Another friend said Garcia was afraid to call police about her husband's abuse because she was an undocumented immigrant.
The bodies were reportedly found by a 12-year-old boy, the son of her uncle.
“It’s just a sad, sad case,” Queens District Attorney Richard Brown told 1010 WINS. “I’ve been 23 years as district attorney, had a lot of crime scenes, hundreds of them as a matter of fact and I don’t know that any of them disturb me as much as when I see young children as the victims of a crime.”
