A former teacher who was reportedly fired for having sex with a student was found dead in her Harlem apartment on Monday, along with her 4-year-old son, police said.
Felicia Barahona, 36, was found in the living room with an electrical cord around her neck, police said. Her son, Miguel Barahona, was in the bathtub.
They were found inside the West 153rd Street apartment, between Broadway and Riverside Drive, at about 8:15 a.m. by the building’s super after someone noticed a smell coming from the unit, police said.
Barahona, according to published reports, was fired from her job as a teacher at the DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx after she became pregnant by an 18-year-old student following a four-month affair that started in 2011. Barahona reportedly discouraged the student from using protection.
Barahona had no past criminal history, but had police called several times for domestic-related incidents with two older men, a police source said. Barahona has a daughter, who was not harmed.
By Monday evening, the bodies of Barahona and her young son had been removed by the medical examiner’s office and several police stood guard.
Fanny Alvarez, a neighbor in the building, said she would often see Barahona doing laundry. She said Barahona had lived in the building for several years, through her pregnancy.
“She used to talk a lot with her son. Like little friends,” Alvarez said. “She was a really quiet person.
“[I’m] really surprised,” she added. “I never expect something like this. She was really young.”
Fellow neighbor Bierca Rodriguez, 44, said Barahona was always with her son, adding she last saw the former teacher two weeks ago.
“Everything was normal,” Rodriguez said through a translator. “The baby — it is very, very sad. She was definitely a good mother.”
There were no arrests in the case as of Monday evening.
