The man who allegedly stalked and then stabbed his on-and-off again girlfriend to death inside her Upper Manhattan apartment earlier this month was indicted on a murder charge Tuesday.
Court statements revealed during a Tuesday hearing at New York Criminal Court showed just how premeditated the attack was, according to prosecutors. They charged that Lopez’s ex-boyfriend Luis Marquez, 41, of the Bronx, allegedly stalked Lopez while she was at a club with her friends.
After briefly speaking with her, he then made his way to her apartment building at 409 West 129th St. Prosecutors said he lay in wait within the stairwell for more than two hours for her to return home. When she arrived, he allegedly went on the deadly attack.
Marquez allegedly pinned her to the ground and stabbed her in her stomach, throat, and chest at least 20 times.
“I was up very late. I didn’t hear much, but I heard a commotion between 3 and 4 a.m., like people arguing. It definitely just sounded like arguing,” a resident who gave his name as Jay said. “She was a very nice person.”
According to police sources, a cleaner inside of 409 West 129th Street discovered the bloody body of 47-year-old Carmen Lopez near the building’s elevators on the third floor during the early hours of Nov. 9. She had been stabbed some 20 times and had only been dead about 15 minutes when she was found.
Later that morning, violence interrupter Iesha Sekou said she was called to the apartment building around 7 a.m. to offer support.
“We were called this morning at about 7 a.m., maybe 7:30, that a woman had been stabbed 18 times,” Sekou said. “One of the supers, the guys that do maintenance here, found her body.”
Following the brutal assault, court documents show Marquez returned to his apartment building. Meanwhile, Lopez was rushed to Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital in critical condition. However, she later succumbed to her injuries. She was a mother of four.
“As alleged, Carmen Lopez’s life was brutally taken by her ex-boyfriend in a horrific act of intimate-partner violence,” District Attorney Bragg said. “Ambushed after a night out with friends, Ms. Lopez was left to die alone on the floor in her own apartment building. My heart is with Ms. Lopez’s loved ones as they grieve her immense loss. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated occurrence. Nationwide, 50% of female homicides are committed by an intimate partner. Early intervention is key. Our Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Bureau has trauma-informed, expert staff dedicated to supporting survivors. Please call us at 212-335-9373.”
Marquez was cuffed on Nov. 11. He was indicted Tuesday on second-degree murder, a class A felony that carries a maximum sentence of up to 25 years to life in prison.
