The 24-year-old Bronx woman whose dismembered body was found in two parks has been identified as the same young woman who saw her own mother stabbed to death 12 years ago.
Police identified Lisa Marie Velasquez, 24, on Tuesday after officers found three bags of body parts at Barretto Point Park in Hunts Point that night and two more in Crotona Park on Friday.
Velasquez was said to have died from a blow to the head.
Police identified the body of Lisa Marie Velasquez, 24, Tuesday
Tuesday night, Police found three bags of body parts at Barretto Point Park in Hunts Point and two more in Crotona Park on Friday
‘I’m trying to find a way to tell her grandmother. It’s not been easy for us,’ aunt Jacqueline Perez explained to the New York Daily News on Wednesday.
The woman’s grandmother, Iris Ginel, took Velasquez in when she was 12-years-old along with siblings David and Vanessa.
The three witnessed the brutal murder of their mother – 37-year-old Marilyn Ginel – at the hands of ex-boyfriend Robert Coakley.
With assistance from his at-the-time girlfriend, who held Marilyn down, Coakley stabbed, strangled and beat the woman to death.
When Velasquez was 12, she and her two siblings witnessed the brutal murder of their mother – 37-year-old Marilyn Ginel – at the hands of ex-boyfriend Robert Coakley
At the time of the killing, Coakley is said to have warned the children that ‘if you tell anybody I killed your mother, I’ll kill you.’ Marilyn was nine months pregnant at the time.
Her ex-boyfriend was convicted of murder and is currently serving 25 years to life behind bars.
‘Lisa witnessed it. After that, my mother took custody of the kids,’ Perez added about Iris Ginel. ‘She’s sick. She can’t walk. She never recovered from her daughter being murdered.’
Police have apparently made two arrest in connection to the 24-year-old woman’s killing
A suspect has already been apprehended by police in connection to the murder, according to the family.
Police have apparently made two arrest in connection to the killing, according to NBC New York.
Sketch police provided when the head was found on Tuesday
‘Lisa witnessed it. After that, my mother took custody of the kids,’ Perez continued. ‘She’s sick. She can’t walk. She never recovered from her daughter being murdered.’
Velasquez was last seen leaving her apartment at the Melrose Houses on August 21. According to police, she never returned.
‘She came to my mother’s house. She grabbed her bag. She left in a rush. She said she had to help a friend who was in danger. And then she ran out,’ Perez claimed.
The 24-year-old was reported missing the next day by another aunt who lives in her building.
‘The type of animal who would do this to another human being … she was tortured,’ Perez stated. ‘She didn’t deserve this. She didn’t deserve to die this way. Whether she was a good girl or a bad girl, she didn’t deserve this.’
The woman’s family had sent out a missing person flyer after she was reported missing on August 22