A Long Island man is in custody after police say he slashed his girlfriend's throat at an apartment they shared.
The body of Neyvin "Iveth" Espinal, 24, was found at 4:00 p.m. Saturday by her friend and co-worker, who lived with the couple at the apartment in Hempstead.
Espinal's employer, Rudis Miranda, was one of the last people to see her alive at the Hempstead restaurant where she waited tables, and recalled seeing her boyfriend come to the restaurant early Saturday morning to take her home after her shift ended.
"She was right there, looking this way, and he came from behind and hugged her, and then they left," he said.
Alan R. Espinoza, 26, was arrested early Sunday morning on charges of second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
Police say an argument led to the murder and that Espinoza slashed Espinal's throat with a type of razor-blade cutter. The murder weapon has not been found, according to police.
Miranda said the restaurant co-worker who found Espinal's body called him afterward.
Local
"She said, 'I just found Iveth dead inside the room,'" he said. "I said, 'What are you talking about?' She said, 'She's dead, somebody killed her.'"
The couple had been living together for about a month, police said. Espinal was the mother of a seven-year-old who lives in Honduras. She was sending money back to the country to help support the little girl.
Espinoza pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. He was represented by a Legal Aid Society lawyer, who do not comment on cases.
"It's weird because the way he looked, he didn't look like that kind of person," said Miranda.
Miranda is now raising money to return Espinal's body to her native Honduras.
"She was happy, she was going to celebrate her daughter's birthday," he said.
A Nassau County judge ordered Espinoza to be held without bail. He was scheduled to be arraigned Monday in First District Court in Hempstead.
