Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

'I'll Kill You,' Man Told Girlfriend Months Before Fatal Shooting: Neighbor

By Katie Honan | September 18, 2017 8:29am | Updated on September 18, 2017 11:43am
 Luz Cuza was shot and killed by her boyfriend as she sat on the front step of her home early Sunday, police said.
Luz Cuza was shot and killed by her boyfriend as she sat on the front step of her home early Sunday, police said.
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/Katie Honan

SOUTH JAMAICA — A mother of a newborn child was shot and killed by her boyfriend as she sat outside near her home early Sunday, just months after he threatened to kill her, police and a neighbor said.

Luz Cuza, 34, was shot in the head by her boyfriend, Robert Rodriguez, as she sat in front of 133-16 147th St. just after 2 a.m. on Sunday, according to police.

She was taken to Jamaica Hospital, where she was pronounced dead later that morning. 

Police arrested Rodriguez, 31 — the father of her months-old child — soon after the fatal shooting, neighbors and officials said. 

During a fight two months ago, Rodriguez struck Cuza and threatened to kill her, neighbor Patrick Frasier said.

"She ran out into the yard and he run outside and said, 'I'll kill you, I'll kill you.' It was a violent relationship," he said. Police were called, Frasier said.

Rodriguez, who lives in Cambria Heights, was charged with second degree murder, along with weapons and controlled substance possession charges, police said.

He has at least 16 prior arrests, including the most recent unsealed conviction for selling narcotics, police sources said.