An off-duty NYPD cop was stabbed to death by her estranged husband in a Bronx apartment on Monday, with a trail of blood leading police to her body, authorities said. Arianna Reyes-Gomez, 31, was found dead in her Bronx apartment in the Grand Concourse section on Monday morning.
Her estranged husband, Argenis de Jesus Baez Pizano, 34, is said to have turned himself at a nearby precinct. According to NBC, citing sources, the stabbing may have stemmed from some sort of argument. The couple was estranged, but had never been reported to local authorities before. Police have launched an investigation and are questioning Pizano.
Killed Mercilessly
Reyes-Gomez was honored last year for helping to save a straphanger's life but never knew that she won't be able to save her own life. According to police, Pizano allegedly stabbed Reyes-Gomez multiple times at her apartment on Grand Concourse near East 156th Street.
At some point during the domestic dispute-turned-deadly, Reyes-Gomez called a relative, who then notified authorities. At around 2.50 am., police responded to the 911 call from the relative and reached her apartment.
After reaching the scene, officers discovered blood in the hallway leading to the apartment, and after knocking down the door, Reyes-Gomez was found unresponsive, according to law enforcement sources.
She was profusely bleeding and was declared dead at the scene. Police said that Reyes-Gomes had multiple stab wounds on her body.
A few hours later Pizano surrendered to the police. Pizano has no criminal record and a motive is unclear, police said. According to the reports, the couple has a child who was not at home at the time and was staying with relatives out of state.
Family Devastated
Sources told the New York Post that Reyes-Gomez was assigned to the NYPD's Transit Bureau. "I am devastated and I ask God for a lot of strength so that my family and I can bear his loss," Reyes-Gomez's sister told the Post in a text message, calling her sibling "an angel on this earth" and "the best sister in the world.
"I could always count on her through thick and thin. I can say that she was an extremely good person with a big heart, her heart was clean and pure, she was one of the few good and sincere people that you can meet in this world," the heartbroken sister said.
"For me she was an angel on this earth, an exceptional human being and always willing to help everyone without expecting anything in return, always helpful, excellent mother, daughter, sister, friend, I have no words to express how wonderful she was, and the great emptiness that he left in our hearts."
Even the police are shocked given that the couple didn't have any documented history of domestic abuse. "The investigators need to determine if there was a documented history of domestic abuse," Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson said.
A line of cops formed a guard of honor outside the building as the dead officer's body was taken out by paramedics and placed into an ambulance at 11:30 am. According to municipal records, the rookie cop had only been with the NYPD since 2019, and was hailed earlier this year for saving a man's life after he overdosed on a Brooklyn train.
Reyes-Gomez "kept to herself," according to Frank Peralta, who has lived in the building his entire life, and there was no evidence of difficulty between her and her ex.
The officer, according to a deli worker on the street, is "a very nice person" who has only lived at the address for a few months before being brutally killed.
