A tragic incident unfolded on Manhattan’s Upper West Side when a family of four, including two young children, were discovered dead in their apartment. The New York Police Department (NYPD) responded to a wellness check at a residence on 86th Street around 3 p.m. on Monday. Assisted by the New York City Fire Department, officers entered a fourth-floor apartment and found four bodies.
The victims included a 41-year-old man and a 40-year-old woman, both with neck injuries. Also found were two children, aged one and three. The older child had injuries to the torso, while the younger one had injuries throughout the body. The NYPD confirmed that the children were the offspring of the adults.
The NYPD declared all four victims dead at the scene and launched an investigation into the incident. The 41-year-old male was found in a bedroom, while the woman was discovered in the hallway. The man was identified as the building’s longtime superintendent.
The medical examiner is currently working to establish the cause of death for the victims. Preliminary reports suggest that the injuries are consistent with stab wounds. The NYPD received a 911 call from a relative of the victims, who had found the woman bleeding on the floor after looking through the apartment’s peephole. The relative had drilled into the door to gain access after not hearing from the family since Sunday morning.
Authorities recovered three knives from the scene. There were no signs of forced entry into the apartment, and no note was found, leading investigators to consider the possibility of a murder-suicide. The superintendent had lived in the building since his childhood.
The superintendent, identified as Edison Lopez, is suspected of fatally stabbing his wife, Aleksandra Witex, and their two children before taking his own life. The family was found near the front door of the apartment, while Lopez was found on his bed with a single neck wound. There were no previous reports of domestic incidents at the address.
Lopez had inherited his role as superintendent from his father, who now works across the street. The elder Lopez discovered the crime scene after unscrewing the peephole to the apartment when he hadn’t heard from his son. Residents described the family as stable and loving. Earlier in the day, Lopez had taken his children on a playdate with a neighbor to a nearby museum.
The NYPD is still investigating the motive behind the incident. However, it was noted that Lopez had recently informed neighbors of his plans to leave his position at the building for a new job in Westchester County, a potential source of stress.