EAST ELMHURST — A middle school teacher found dead in his East Elmhurst home was choked to death, the medical examiner's office ruled Monday.
Police responded to a 911 call reporting an unconscious man inside a 91st Street apartment about 6:45 p.m. Sunday, an NYPD spokeswoman said.
When they arrived, police found David Rangel, 53, stuffed under his couch, the spokeswoman said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
On Monday, the medical examiner ruled the death a homicide by compression of the neck and torso.
Rangel was born in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, according to his Facebook page.
He taught ESL and Spanish to seventh and eighth graders at the M.S. 219 Paul Klapper school in Flushing, according to the school's website and the Department of Education. A crisis counselor will be at the school to help students and staffers, DOE spokeswoman Marge Feinberg said Tuesday.
No one has been arrested, and the investigation is ongoing, police said.