[SCROLL DOWN FOR UPDATE]
A nail salon worker was fatally stabbed at work in Jackson Heights on Wednesday night, and her estranged husband is reportedly in police custody following the murder.
The victim, Carmen Iris Santiago, 35, was attacked at the Tu S'tilo nail salon and spa at 37th Avenue in Queens shortly before 7 p.m. yesterday. Police say she was bleeding from multiple stab wounds to the torso when first responders arrived at the scene. Santiago was rushed to Elmhurst General Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
A 39-year-old man was taken into custody at the scene "without incident," according to police, and is currently hospitalized with a laceration to his arm.
Graphic video from the salon, obtained by the Daily News, shows the man, believed to be her estranged husband, lying on top of Santiago's body immediately following the stabbing. PIX 11 reports that he slit his wrists following the attack.
Sources tell the News that Santiago had been married to the unidentified man for four years, but they had separated in January.
“She said that he was aggressive, and she was a little scared, but never enough to think this [would happen],” a friend of Santiago's told the News. "She said he wanted her to live with him but she said she didn’t want to be with him. She said she didn’t want him to know where she lived.”
No charges have been filed against the man in custody as of Thursday morning, but a spokesperson said the investigation is ongoing.
UPDATE 1:25 p.m.: The NYPD announced this afternoon that officers have arrested 39-year-old Queens resident William Rivas, charging him with murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
