Brentwood man, Jason Kurumoglu, charged with fatally stabbing his mother, Melida Velasquez, inside their home, police say
A Brentwood man is facing second-degree murder charges after, Suffolk police said, he stabbed his mother to death in their West White Street home.
Suffolk police officers who responded to a 911 call at about 5:26 p.m. on Tuesday found Melida Velasquez deceased with stab wounds, officials said. Velasquez's son, Jason S. Kurumoglu, 30, will be held overnight at the Third Precinct in Bay Shore and is scheduled for arraignment at First District Court in Central Islip on Thursday.
No information on his attorney was available.
Suffolk police did not comment on a possible motive for the slaying or events that may have led to the fatal stabbing.
Pablo Torres, 54, of Brentwood, said he attended the same church as Velasquez and came by her house Wednesday morning to pay his respects.
He described her as a generous person who was heavily involved in her church community, the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Brentwood, and often made meals for its events.
“It’s hard,” Torres said. “She was a good person.”
Velasquez had recently visited her mother in her home country of El Salvador, he said.
Suffolk County police homicide investigators at West White Street home in Brentwood Wednesday, where officers found the body of Melida Velasquez, 59. Credit: Newsday/James Carbone
Neighbor Nancy McKenna, 66, said she did not know Velasquez but was shocked to learn about the death.
“I've been here 20 years. We've never had anything like this, so that's why it's a little too close to home,” McKenna said. “I never thought something like this could happen.”
Police were at the scene Wednesday morning when children and parents arrived at North Elementary School, which was is across the street from the house where the victim was found. But the office of Brentwood Union Free Schools Superintendent Wanda Ortiz-Rivera said the police investigation didn't impact the school's opening.
A police officer and crossing guard escorted children walking to school on West White Street past the scene, at one point consoling an upset child.
Crime scene tape was taken down just before 9:30 a.m., shortly after a Suffolk police crime laboratory van also drove away from the scene.
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