Police officer Sonia Garcia was found dead in the Bay Shore, Long Island home she shared with fellow NYPD officer Alexis Chaparro. Chaparro, an instructor at the POlice Academy, told the police he heard a shot and found Garcia, who worked at the 77th Precinct in Brooklyn, in their bedroom early in the morning. He called 911 at about 5:15AM.
Chaparro was led out of the house in handcuffs, and Suffolk police questioned Chaparro for hours but was not charged. A neighbor said Chaparro told Suffolk cops, "Why are you doing this to me? I didn't do anything wrong." A Suffolk detective, Jack Fitzpatrick, told Newsday they were investigating and that "we don't believe it was a suicide" - "We're still seeing how well his story and the evidence at the scene match up."
The couple had met while at the Police Academy in 2003 and worked together at the 77th Precinct for a while. They purchased the four-bedroom Bay Shore home earlier this year - Garcia had two daughters and Chaparro has a son from previous marriages (the children were at relatives' houses during the shooting). An uncle of Garcia's told the news that Chaparro "did it" and that "The fiance's a crazy guy," but Chaparro was described as "level-headed, even-tempered" by NYPD Fighting Finest Boxing Team coordinator Joe Rainone (Chaparro was on the boxing team).
The woman who sold them the house, Annette Pache, said they were happy to give their children each their own room. Pache told WCBS 2, “I'm in shock, absolutely in shock...[Garcia] wanted to get away from the city and children to grow up in the country and in a safer place."
