CONCOURSE — A woman was found dead and stuffed into a large plastic trash barrel in a Bronx apartment Sunday morning, police said.
Cops were investigating a ground-floor apartment at 1356 Walton Ave., where police discovered the body of 29-year-old Yajaira Reyes inside a trash barrel at 5:40 a.m., police said.
Moises Martinez, 52, who police said appeared to be the Reyes's boyfriend, came forward and was arrested at the scene, police said, and later charged with manslaughter and murder.
Sources told DNAinfo that Reyes's friends warned her about Martinez, that he was an extremely controling boyfriend who was often jealous of her. They told her she should get away from him, sourced added.
Martinez worked as a livery cab driver, and lived at the address with his wife and three children, who were all visiting relatives in Florida at the time, according to neighbors.
Victor Salva, a musician who lives in the same building, said he came home at around 4:15 a.m. from a show and saw Martinez in his car, double-parked next to a fire hydrant. "He was just sitting there," said Salva.
When he looked out his window at 4:30 a.m., he said he saw the car still there, but Martinez was not.
Fernando Mateo, director of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers, said the car company where Martinez worked, Diplo First Class, was baffled by the incident.
“This was a gruesome murder and we don’t know what could have gone wrong," said Mateo in a statement. He said Martinez had been in good standing at his company and had a clean driving record.
"He was very reserved and kept to himself. He was a hard worker," he said outside the Walton Avenue building.