Melanie Woods, East Harlem woman stabbed to death by ex boyfriend, left to die in the bathroom of her NYC apartment. Candido Rodriguez arrested and charged with murder. Neighbors heard commotion hours before victim’s body found.
‘I thought it was an action movie. Like fighting, arguing….’ A NYC man is alleged to have stabbed his ex girlfriend multiple times before leaving her to die in the bathroom of her East Harlem apartment.
Melanie Woods, 33, was found by cops with her neck slashed and numerous stab wounds Tuesday night, inside her East Harlem apartment. A medical examiner declared her deceased at the scene and her cause of death has been listed as a homicide, the nypost reported.
Candido Rodriguez, 51, the victim’s former boyfriend was soon after arrested and charged him with first degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon. The man appearing in court, Friday morning was observed crying uncontrollably as he was formally arraigned the dailymail reported.
Wellness check
Officers were called to perform a wellness check after the victim missed a planned trip to California.
Upon arrival at the residence, cops discovered a table obstructing the doorway from inside of the victim’s apartment. After making their way inside, they found Woods unconscious and unresponsive in the bathtub. An autopsy report cited the woman having been no less than 20 times, with multiple wounds across her body and a slash across her neck.
A neighbor heard disturbances coming from the victim’s apartment before 8 a.m. on Tuesday, before spotting Woods’ ex-boyfriend leaving the building, NBCNY reported.
Domestic violence
‘I thought it was an action movie. Like fighting, arguing,’ the neighbor said, according to the nydailynews. ‘I kind of stopped and was like, ‘What the heck is that?’’
‘We heard (the police) break down the door and then break down another door. It’s one of those things where you put it all together and you’re like, ‘Oh.’’
Not immediately clear is if there had been prior episodes of domestic violence between the former couple. At the time of the murder, Rodriguez and Woods were in an on-off relationship, with the former girlfriend having told demanded that the man not to contact her anymore, according to the prosecutor.
‘To know Melanie was to love her,’ Woods’ family wrote on a GoFundMe. ‘She was a vibrant soul who brought out the best in anyone around her, this we will never forget.’
Continued the fundraiser in part, ‘It’s always hard to lose someone you know, to let go of Melanie, and move on. But if we keep those good memories in our hearts and minds, we can find comfort and Melanie will always be with us.’
The family in the GoFundme stated wanting to bring Melanie home to California, with more than $37,000 for her funeral costs to date.
Following Friday’s court appearance, Rodriguez was remanded without bail and placed on suicide watch.
