NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Wednesday that four men have been indicted in the "cruel" death of a woman whose body was found inside the trunk of a car during a traffic stop on Long Island.
Allan Lopez, 22, Jose Sarmiento, 21, Anander Henriquez, 28 and Rigel Yohairo, 20, of Queens have been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Supreme Court on murder charges and other crimes for the beating death of Nazareth Claure, 31.
According to the charges, on April 11, 2021, between 9 and 11 p.m., Lopez, Sarmiento, Henriquez and Yohairo allegedly attacked Claure, and repeatedly struck her with a machete and baseball bat.
At around 1:50 a.m., on April 14, police observed the four men near 11-16 Foam Place and Central Avenue in Far Rockaway carrying a large, unknown object that was then placed in the trunk of a car.
The men then drove away from the location and officers followed the vehicle before conducting a car stop in the vicinity of Nassau Expressway and Bayview Avenue on Long Island, according to authorities.
Officers discovered an unconscious and unresponsive woman wrapped in a blanket inside the vehicle's trunk officials said.
Responding EMS officials pronounced the woman dead at the scene.
She was identified by the NYPD as 31-year-old Nazareth Claure of Queens.
The victim was the mother of a young boy, the DA’s office noted.
“This was a cruel, ruthless killing. As alleged, the defendants attacked the victim and beat her to death with a machete and a bat,” Katz said in a statement. “A young boy is now without his mother and a community is grieving. The accused are in custody and will face justice in our legal system.”
The four men were taken into custody and police announced they charged Lopez with murder, criminal possession of a weapon, and criminal possession of a controlled substance.
Salmiento was charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon, and Yohairo, was also charged with murder, according to the NYPD.
Rodolfo Lopez, 26, of Brooklyn, the fourth man taken into custody was charged with concealment of a human corpse and tampering with physical evidence, officials said.
Henriquez was arrested at a later date and is facing an aggravated criminal contempt charge although officials did not release any additional details.
Katz said Sarmiento and Yohairo were also charged with concealment of a human corpse and tampering with physical evidence.
Additionally, Lopez faces a charge of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree.
An investigation remains ongoing.
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