A 32-year-old single mother was brutally murdered in broad daylight Thursday afternoon in Glen Cove, Nassau County police said.
The victim, Yanira Estella Canjura Martinez, was walking in a parking lot near 221 Glenn Street at 3:15 p.m. when an unknown assailant stabbed her multiple times, police said. The victim was taken to local hospital, where she was pronounced dead less than an hour later. She was on her way to pick up her 5-year-old daughter from the babysitter when she was attacked.
“We believe the victim knew her attacker and we believe it was domestic in nature,” Glen Cove police Det. Lt. John Nagle said in a statement.
During a press conference Friday at police headquarters in Mineola, Nassau County police Capt. John Azzata, commander of the Homicide Squad, said investigators don’t believe the attack was a robbery “due to the fact that most of her possessions were found in the general vicinity of the incident.”
Police were unable to immediately provide an address for Marinez. Azzata said her closest relatives live outside New York and are make arrangements to travel to Nassau County. The father of the child lives in El Salvador, Azzata said.
A person walking out of a nearby building, who didn’t witness the attack but saw “that an assault had taken place” dialed 911, Azzata said. Police responded to the scene but the attacker had already fled east on Pearsall Ave toward Town Path.
Investigators scouring surveillance video found footage that shows a portion of the attack. The footage, however, has not been helpful in identifying the suspect, who police believe is a Hispanic man.
Azzata characterized the slaying as a tragedy. “In this case, you have a 5-year-old daughter who is now without a mom,” he said.
The girl was “in close proximity to the area,” Azzata said. She didn’t see her slain mother.
Azzata said there’s no indication that Martinez was involved in any prior domestic incidents in Nassau County.
Nassau police and Glen Cove city police are conducting a joint investigation into the murder.
Homicide Squad detectives ask anyone with information regarding this crime to call Nassau County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS. All callers will remain anonymous.
