Queens Man Charged With Murdering Girlfriend: Body Wheeled to Rockaway Beach and Buried in Shallow Grave
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on October 28 that Rogelio Lozano-Garita, 26, of Edgemere, Queens, was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on charges of murder in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon, concealment of a human corpse and tampering with physical evidence, in the shooting death of his girlfriend, 35-year-old Seraphina Pereira.
According to the charges and the investigation, between 2:16 a.m. and 6:04 a.m. on October 19, Lozano-Garita shot Pereira in the head inside the Edgemere home they shared with their two young children and Pereira's child from a previous relationship.
Prosecutors allege that he then concealed her body in a pull wagon, wheeled it to the beach at Rockaway Community Park and buried her in a shallow grave, returning home a short time later without the wagon. Two days later, on October 21, he called 911 to report Pereira missing, claiming that a box containing her belongings had been dropped off at his apartment building with a note from a surfer who said he had found the belongings on the beach.
Her remains were discovered on the night of October 24, after an NYPD K9 unit searched the beach. Queens Criminal Court Judge Thomas Wright-Fernandez remanded the defendant and ordered him to return to court on Friday. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years to life in prison.
District Attorney Katz said the defendant allegedly mercilessly killed the mother of his children and tried to cover up the crime, and thanked her assistant district attorneys and law enforcement partners for ensuring accountability in the homicide. Assistant District Attorney Eric Weinstein of the Homicide Bureau is prosecuting the case. A criminal complaint is an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于 Kew Gardens 的皇后区刑事法院大楼，被告在此过堂（标准建筑图）。照片：Tdorante10 摄，经 Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 4.0。 / Photo: Queens County Criminal Court in Kew Gardens, where the defendant was arraigned. Photo by Tdorante10, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
