The tragic death of a 35-year-old woman, Carmen Iris Santiago Rodríguez, also known as Iris Rodriguez, who was working at a Queens salon, seems to trace back to her husband, William Rivas, 39, from whom she was estranged.
The man was reportedly jealous and had tracked down his spouse to her workplace, where he stabbed her to death in front of her horrified coworkers. Some people managed to film parts of the tragic incident.
At around 7 p.m. Wednesday, Rivas reportedly came to Tu S’tilo Salon Spa and attacked the victim from behind with a knife. He then allegedly continued to clutch her body in his arms until police arrived.
Rodriguez was taken to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead. Authorities immediately arrested Rivas and charged him with criminal possession of a weapon on top of murder.
Some reports have indicated that the man was whispering something in his lifeless partner’s ear shortly after stabbing her, though that remains unconfirmed.
It is also not clear what exactly drove Rivas to his horrific crime, other than the fact that he was “jealous” over the situation between him and his partner.
More details are still coming out, although at a slower pace as authorities have been relatively quiet about the case.
The couple separated in January after four years of marriage and Rivas has had problems seeing his wife interacting with other men. They emigrated from the Dominican Republic a few years ago.
One of her friends, Rosa, spoke to the New York Daily News and shared: “She said that he was aggressive, and she was a little scared, but never enough to think this [would happen]. She said he wanted her to live with him, but she said she didn’t want to be with him. She said she didn’t want him to know where she lived. Such a good person she was. A really good mother. She loved her children. She would do everything for them.”
It has also come to light that the man shared an update on Facebook shortly after carrying out the attack. The quote, despite being poetic, was also quite creepy in the context of what happened.
Translated from Spanish, it read: “Life asked death: Why do people love me, but hate you? Death answered: because you are a beautiful lie, and I am a painful truth.”
Some have pointed out that the man could have been stopped if more people were paying attention to what he had to say, but others have countered that by stating that he was likely way beyond saving at this point.
Which, given everything that has happened, may not be too far from the truth in the first place.
The community was shocked by what happened. One person reacted by saying: “Interesting that they always justify the murder of a woman by saying “out of jealousy” which implicitly leaves the observer doubts about the motive of the homicide and that results in justifying the murder.”
A second commenter stated: “Pig ? pig ? pig ? how could they let you out now, not because you already destroyed the lives of their children families.”
A third individual added: “That lk is an excuse me the expression a rapa his damn mother oh no to kill her abusive.??????”
Rivas, who was paroled in May, had served time in Pennsylvania for aggravated assault. He is held without bail, and he is due back in court on September 20.
