NYPD cop fatally stabbed by estranged husband
Bronx NY June 15 2022
An “angel” off-duty cop was stabbed to death by her estranged husband in a Bronx apartment early Monday – with a trail of blood leading police to her body, authorities and law-enforcement sources said.
Officer Arianna Reyes-Gomez, 31 – who was hailed last year for helping to save a straphanger’s life – was allegedly stabbed multiple times by her former partner, Argenis de Jesus Baez Pizano, 34, at her apartment on Grand Concourse near East 156th Street, authorities and sources said.
At some point during the domestic dispute-turned-deadly, Reyes-Gomez phoned a female relative, who then dialed 911 and sent police to the location, police sources said.
When officers arrived there around 2:50 a.m., they found blood in the hallway leading to the apartment, and after busting down the door, Reyes-Gomez was found unresponsive, law-enforcement sources said.
The couple have a child who was not home at the time and was out of state with relatives, the sources said.
Shortly after the incident, Pizano turned himself in at a neighboring precinct. He was charged with murder, manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon, police said.
“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.”
The slain officer was assigned to the NYPD’s Transit Bureau and had a 3-year-old son, according to police sources and Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson.
“The investigators need to determine if there was a documented history of domestic abuse,” Gibson said outside of the crime scene Monday morning.
“I can’t imagine her mom and dad getting that phone call this morning that their daughter was fatally stabbed.”
Police said there was no history of domestic violence between the couple and police sources noted the cop’s former partner has no prior arrests and only a single traffic violation.
As the slain officer’s body was brought out by paramedics and loaded into an ambulance around 11:30 a.m., a line of cops formed a guard of honor outside of the building.
The rookie cop had only been with the NYPD since 2019, city records show, and was recognized earlier this year for helping to save a man’s life after he overdosed on a Brooklyn subway.
“Officers Oviedo & Gomez from @NYPDTransit were alerted yesterday of an unconscious man on board a train in Brooklyn. They immediately suspected the man of overdosing & with the help of @FDNY administered two dosages of Narcan – successfully reviving & saving the man’s life,” the NYPD tweeted on March 25 with a photo of Reyes-Gomez.
A deli worker on the block called the officer “a very nice lady” and said she’d only been living at the address a few months.
“She came in every now and then for a sandwich and a coffee,” the worker, Pedro Moya, 60, told The Post. “She always smiled and said hello. She hasn’t been coming in for all that long — maybe two or three months.”
Resident Alvin Green, 35, was shocked a violent crime occurred in an otherwise peaceful and friendly building.
“There’s no crime or conflict here, we’re close to the court houses, and everyone’s friendly and says hello,” Green said. “It’s a quiet building.”
“I never thought anything like this would happen in our building.”
Frank Peralta, who has lived in the building his entire life, said Reyes-Gomez “kept to herself” and there was no indication of trouble between her and her ex.
“This completely came out of nowhere,” Peralta, 27, said.
New York Post
