QUEENS — The boyfriend of a 28-year-old woman who was found dead in her bathtub with severe burns in downtown Jamaica last October was indicted on murder and arson charges, the Queens District Attorney’s office said Tuesday.
Miriam Velez-Samayoa's body was discovered on Oct. 17, about 4 a.m. inside her apartment on 90th Avenue, near 148th Street, after police responded to "a 911 call of a possible assault in progress," officials said.
Her live-in boyfriend, Carlos Leon Pineda, 27, was arrested in Miami several days later, wearing the same clothes he wore on the day his girlfriend was killed, police sources said.
“This was a heinous crime,” District Attorney Richard Brown said. “A young woman was killed and her remains burned from head to toe in her own bathtub.”
Authorities have not been able to establish the motive in the gruesome crime, officials said Tuesday.
Pineda, also known as Carlos Leon, was arraigned Tuesday on an eight-count indictment charging him with second-degree murder, second-degree arson, first-degree reckless endangerment and tampering with physical evidence, prosecutors said.
Brown said that Pineda, who allegedly strangled his 28-year old girlfriend, was captured on video surveillance leaving the apartment building just after 3:00 a.m. on Oct. 17, and then seen returning approximately 20 minutes later with a red container commonly used to hold gasoline.
He then left the building again around 3:53 a.m., just before police received a 911 call.
Sources said investigators were able to find Leon by tracking his girlfriend’s phone which he had with him.
Investigators believe that Leon, who was found near the Guatemalan Consulate in Miami, traveled to Florida by bus, sources said.
The couple, who had been dating for about 7 months, was planning to fly to Guatemala to take care of Velez-Samayoa's ailing mother on the same morning she was killed. Leon was supposed to purchase the tickets, but he never did.
His girlfriend was not aware of it and had her luggage ready for the trip, sources said.
If convicted, Pineda faces up to 25 years to life in prison, according to the Queens District Attorney’s office.
He is being held without bail and due back in court on March 10, the Queens DA's office said.
Pineda's attorney did not immediately respond to a phone call seeking comment.
