Ex-boyfriend charged in fatal stabbing at Belmont Park
Belmont NY June 18 2018 A homeless man faces second-degree murder charges after his former girlfriend, a Belmont Park racetrack worker, was found stabbed early Sunday in a backstretch barn, authorities said.
Police arrested Jose Franco-Martinez, 53, who has no known address, and charged him with murder, He will be arraigned Monday at First District Court, 99 Main St., Hempstead.
According to detectives, police received a 911 a call about an injured female at the track after a New York Racing Association security official saw a loose horse on the grounds.
Nassau police officers stationed at Belmont Park on Sunday, where a female stabbing victim who later died was found earlier in the day, officials said. Photo Credit: Howard Schnapp
The horse was caught and the officials investigated a rear barn area, where they found the victim.
“The victim was transported by a NYRA ambulance to a local hospital and was pronounced deceased,” a Nassau police news release said.
The woman, 51, whom police have not publicly identified, worked as a hot walker, police said, Hot walkers cool down thoroughbred racehorses after exercise.
A NYRA spokesman declined to comment on Sunday evening. A Belmont Park-based representative of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, which helps mediate concerns on behalf of owners, trainers and employees who work on the backstretch, also declined to comment.
