Lisette Gomez: NYC mother-of-8 strangled to death with wire, abusive boyfriend charged with murder
The BRONX, NEW YORK CITY: The body of a Bronx mother-of-eight who was strangled to death with a wire or cord was found in her bed in her apartment. Lisette Gomez's ex-con, live-in boyfriend Jeremy Cortorreal, 33, has been charged with her murder and was taken into custody on Thursday, March 23, according to investigators.
Cortorreal has been charged with murder, manslaughter, and assault in connection to the death of the 38-year-old woman. The slain woman's body was found on Wednesday afternoon, March 22, inside her apartment on Cauldwell Avenue near Westchester Avenue. According to the medical examiner's office, severe injuries were found on her face and neck. Her death has been ruled a homicide resulting from asphyxiation with a possible wire or cord. Police recovered an extension cord from the crime scene. However, it was unclear whether it was used to choke Gomez or another wire or cord was used, reported New York Post.
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Was Gomez a victim of domestic violence?
Over domestic violence concerns, Gomez's neighbors said that she lived with her two youngest children out of her eight children. A neighbor, requesting anonymity, said that the slain woman and the accused murderer started seeing each other in late September or early October. "She met him and the next week he was living there. I told her, ‘What the f*** did you do?’ He is a mad problem. Domestic violence. These girls need to get away after the first time," the neighbor said.
'She was involved with the wrong person'
Nini Rodriguez, 59, a neighbor of Gomez said that she knew the victim for about 10 years. Rodriguez said that the victim's life gradually turned around after many years of drug addiction battle, but recently, she met a "very abusive" man and fell into a relationship with him. "Everybody used to see him beating her up. She was always with a marked-up face, black and blue, and she would tell people that he was abusive," said Rodriguez.
“She was involved with the wrong person. Before that person came into her life, she was a great person. She was always happy, sweet with everybody, kind-hearted, always wanted to help out. We knew she was in danger with the boyfriend she had, and we kept telling her that she had to get rid of the boyfriend, but she wouldn’t get rid of the boyfriend, so look what happened," she added.
Accused murderer has eight prior arrests
According to NYPD, the accused murderer had eight prior arrests, including drug possession, criminal possession of the stolen property, and burglary. In 2020, Cortorreal was released on parole in a case related to burglary and bail-jumping convictions. His parole expired in 2021, according to New York Post.