YONKERS, N.Y. (WCBS 880) — Authorities have apprehended a man in Arizona in connection with the stabbing deaths of a mother and daughter found inside a Yonkers home Monday.
The suspect, 27-year-old Luis Gabriel Ramos, was arrested in Salome, Arizona, where authorities said he may have been trying to cross the border into Mexico.
Officials said the stabbings took place inside the victims’ home on Shipman Avenue in Yonkers sometime last week.
The bodies of the Isabella Triano, 70, and her 38-year-old daughter, Trisha Miller, were found inside the home around 4:30 p.m. Monday, when cops made a welfare check after a concerned friend had not heard from Miller since Friday.
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Yonkers Police Commissioner John Mueller described the incident as a “very, very horrific double homicide.”
Mueller added that Ramos knew the victims and described them only as acquaintances.
Ramos was tracked down in Arizona after Yonkers police spoke with an ex-girlfriend who gave “very, very pertinent information about what happened” and told them where he may have fled to.
Yonkers police immediately contacted authorities in Arizona to help track down the suspect and Mueller said Ramos was in custody just hours after the discovery of the victims.
“We’re going to be working through extradition procedures now to bring him back to New York for justice,” Mueller said.
Westchester District Attorney Miriam Rocah said Ramos has been charged with two counts of murder in the second degree, in connection with the deaths of Triano and Miller.
Mueller said earlier that Ramos was also arrested on Oct. 26 in connection with an arson that occurred in Wappingers Falls, New York.
Mueller blamed new bail reform laws for allowing Ramos to go free and attack the mother and daughter.
“We’ve made a case, for some time, about some of the difficulties about bail reform and this is an example, where this individual was arrested for a C felony – a very serious charge – a week ago and he was released on his own recognizance. And then, fast forward a week later, we have two women that are murdered,” Mueller said.
The motive for the stabbings remains unclear, but authorities have said they believe it was an isolated incident.
Police also said there was some hoarding conditions in and around the Yonkers home, which could make the investigation particularly difficult.