Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Young Latina lesbian stabbed to death in Queens

Priscilla Pimentel (left) never made it to Thanksgiving dinner at her family's place in Bethlehem, PA last week.

The 24 year-old had moved to New York City four years ago because she did not want her sexual orientation to be a source of shame or pain for her Puerto Rican family. Still - when she did not show up on Thursday night, her family knew something was wrong.

On Friday, according to the New York Times, her brother and sister went to her Richmond Hills apartment in Queens and walked into a murder scene. The green walls of the apartment were streaked with blood, a rainbow flag laid on the floor, a mattress she'd been using as a bed was still unmade and dirty dishes were still in the kitchen sink.

Her body, which showed multiple stab punctures in the arms and left side of the chest, was also smeared with "mint green paint, which she had recently used to brighten the walls of her apartment." Her hands had been tied, her dog Gucci, was also lying dead next to her.

It's been a couple of days since the Times article was published (smaller articles also ran in the Daily News and Newsday following an AP report) and there hasn't been additional information.

Most of New York probably hasn't heard about this crime and it calls to mind the stabbing murder of Rodney Velazquez, a young Puerto Rican gay man who was also found in as ghastly a murder scene as Priscilla back in 2002. That case has long been forgotten by most people (actually, it never really caught the attention of people in this city as other crimes have done), and remains unresolved.

Let's hope that things turn out differently in this case even if, obviously, someone else in our community is gone due to mindless violence and nothing that happens will bring her back.

UPDATE: Richmond Hill Woman Stabbed to Death (Queens Chronicle, Friday, Dec. 1, 2006)

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't see how somone would be able to do such a thing. I hope for nothing but justice for this
innocent girl. My heart goes out
to her family.

Anonymous said...

My friend Norma Schaefer was stabbed to death in Manahttan in the 70's and they never found the killer...
I hope to hear of PROGRESS in this case!!!
Terrible crime.
Gracias, Neal Hurwitz

Anonymous said...

thats really messed up i knew hwe and i hope her family finds out who did this to her my deepest regards to her family and friends

Unknown said...

This is wrong.She did not sleep on a mattress on the floor! I am one of her best friends and I have been to her house a million times. She had a beautiful bedroom set.
She had a lot of nice things.She was the sweetest person I have ever met and I love her and miss her immensely.

Blabbeando said...

Thanks Venus

The information in this post was gathered from several of the newspaper articles... And, of course, that information may be wrong.

Nevertheless, I am so sorry that she is gone and for your pain as well as her family's and friends'.

Today is January 28, 2008, and the crime is still unresolved. Let's hope that the killer is caught someday.

Anonymous said...

peaches was one of my best friends and most of the story in the article is not true as far as the sexuality thing but she was a beautiful loving person and i as well as her other friends and family miss her very dearly

Anonymous said...

Some body know something about her family please let me know

Anonymous said...

It's now 2012 and I still think of Priscilla all the time. I can't get her horific murder out of my mind. I continue to replay her funeral in my head over and over. She was a really good friend of mine. She had a heart of gold and would do anything for anybody. She was very confident, never afraid to speak her mind and stick up for what she believed in. Priscilla adored her family and was very close to her sisters. I pray that justice finally prevails and her murderer is captured. R.I.P baby you'll always be loved and missed.

Unknown said...

Its now 2019 and poor Priscilla has had no justice and the police just gave up.she lives in the heart of her mother and those others of us who loved her.