A 31-year-old woman who moved from Guyana to the United States as a child was found fatally stabbed in her Queens, New York apartment on Wednesday, with her boyfriend identified in reporting as the suspected attacker.
Pheona Premraji was discovered at a residence on Neilson Street in Far Rockaway shortly before noon on September 30. Police found her unconscious and unresponsive with multiple stab wounds, and emergency medical personnel pronounced her dead at the scene, according to amNewYork.
The New York Post, citing police and sources, identified her 32-year-old boyfriend as the man suspected of attacking her.
According to amNewYork, officers from the 101st Precinct initially responded to a report of a man on the roof of the seven-storey apartment building at 10-40 Neilson Street.
The man subsequently fell from the roof and was taken to hospital in critical condition. Investigators obtained access to his second-floor apartment with assistance from the building superintendent and found Premraji inside
The newspaper reported that investigators believed the man had stabbed her before attempting to take his own life. Its October 1 report said he remained in police custody and that no charges had been filed as of Thursday morning.
Premraji’s connection to Guyana was described by her cousin, Akbar Khan, in a family account carried by the New York Post.
Khan said her father brought her from Guyana to the United States when she was a child. He recalled that she remained close to her family and visited her father every week.
He said he had spoken with her only days before her death and that they had discussed plans for the following summer.
“He worked so hard… to bring her here, give her an education, send her to college, and then somebody has to take her life,” Khan was quoted as saying.
Police are continuing their investigation. Anyone with information can contact the New York Police Department’s Crime Stoppers service on 800-577-TIPS or submit information through its online portal, amNewYork reported.
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