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Police Identify Young Woman Found Dismembered in the Bronx She Watched Her Mother Be Killed 12 Years Ago. She Met the Same Fate.
(about 1 hour later)
The woman whose body parts were found stuffed in trash bags at two Bronx parks over the past week was identified on Wednesday as a missing 25-year-old woman, who the authorities said was beaten to death and dismembered.The woman whose body parts were found stuffed in trash bags at two Bronx parks over the past week was identified on Wednesday as a missing 25-year-old woman, who the authorities said was beaten to death and dismembered.
The police identified the woman as Lisa Velasquez, of the Melrose Houses, on Wednesday, a day after parkgoers discovered her arms and feet in three trash bags underneath a pier in Barretto Point Park in Hunts Point. Her head and torso were found on Friday two miles away in Crotona Park, the police said.The police identified the woman as Lisa Velasquez, of the Melrose Houses, on Wednesday, a day after parkgoers discovered her arms and feet in three trash bags underneath a pier in Barretto Point Park in Hunts Point. Her head and torso were found on Friday two miles away in Crotona Park, the police said.
Ms. Velasquez had been missing since Aug. 21, and her relatives posted a flier and a message on Facebook asking for help in finding her. Ms. Velasquez had been missing since Aug. 21, and her relatives posted a message on Facebook asking for help in finding her.
The medical examiner ruled that Ms. Velasquez’s death resulted from “multiple blunt-impact injuries” that fractured her skull. Investigators were still searching on Wednesday for whoever killed Ms. Velasquez, and then discarded her remains. A medical examiner ruled that Ms. Velasquez’s death resulted from “multiple blunt-impact injuries” that fractured her skull.
It was the second time since April that a woman’s head and torso had been found separate from her limbs in city parks, but the police said investigators do not believe the two cases — one in the Bronx and the other in Brooklyn — are connected. Ms. Velasquez, who went by the nickname Izzy, was raised during her teen years by her grandmother in a 14th-floor apartment in the Melrose Houses, a housing project on Courtlandt Avenue in the South Bronx known for gang conflicts, relatives and neighbors said.
Her short life had been marked by violence. Her mother, Marilyn Ginel, nine months pregnant, was stabbed and strangled in 2006 by a romantic partner, who was later convicted of murder, her relatives said. Ms. Velasquez and her two younger siblings witnessed their mother’s death. She was 12.
An aunt, Jacqueline Perez, said Ms. Perez had moved out of her grandmother’s apartment a couple of years ago, but still visited frequently. The family last saw her on Aug. 21, when she dropped by to pick up a bag. “She left in a rush and said she had to help a friend in danger,” her aunt said. Her relatives did not know who she meant or where she had been living.
“It’s really heartbreaking the way she was tortured,” her aunt said. “For Christ’s sake, she didn’t deserve that.”
Three passers-by, two women in their 30s and a 63-year-old man, discovered the bags containing Ms. Velasquez’s limbs on Tuesday shortly after 7 p.m. on the Barretto Point Park shoreline.Three passers-by, two women in their 30s and a 63-year-old man, discovered the bags containing Ms. Velasquez’s limbs on Tuesday shortly after 7 p.m. on the Barretto Point Park shoreline.
The victim’s left foot was jutting out of a bag that also contained her left arm and was found underneath the Tiffany Street Pier; a second bag was empty, an unopened third bag contained her right arm and leg, the police said.The victim’s left foot was jutting out of a bag that also contained her left arm and was found underneath the Tiffany Street Pier; a second bag was empty, an unopened third bag contained her right arm and leg, the police said.
The toenails on her left foot were painted, and a woman’s shirt was also found near the remains, the police said.The toenails on her left foot were painted, and a woman’s shirt was also found near the remains, the police said.
Last Friday, a seasonal Parks Department worker found Ms. Velasquez’s head and torso in a trash bag near a sidewalk outside Crotona Park.Last Friday, a seasonal Parks Department worker found Ms. Velasquez’s head and torso in a trash bag near a sidewalk outside Crotona Park.
Discoveries of human remains are rare, but not unheard-of, in New York.Discoveries of human remains are rare, but not unheard-of, in New York.
The Bronx case was similar to the discovery of a woman’s remains in Canarsie Park in Brooklyn in April. The police believe that woman, Brandy Odom, 26, was killed before her limbs were severed.The Bronx case was similar to the discovery of a woman’s remains in Canarsie Park in Brooklyn in April. The police believe that woman, Brandy Odom, 26, was killed before her limbs were severed.
Ms. Odom was identified by her mother after the authorities disclosed that her torso had the word “Chocolate” tattooed above her left breast.Ms. Odom was identified by her mother after the authorities disclosed that her torso had the word “Chocolate” tattooed above her left breast.
There have been no arrests in Ms. Odom’s case and the police said their investigation was continuing.There have been no arrests in Ms. Odom’s case and the police said their investigation was continuing.