A 41-year-old Queens man has been arrested on murder and weapons possession charges in the death of a 51-year-old woman from the same borough who was found shot in the head in her own home, police said Thursday.
Giuseppe Canzani is accused of killing Anna Torres in her 109th Avenue home in Ozone Park Wednesday afternoon. Torres was found with multiple gunshot wounds when cops responded to reports of a woman shot in the home just after 2 p.m. Three shots had been fired in all.
Two of them hit Torres, with one going into her head, police said. She was pronounced dead at the scene five minutes after authorities responded. Cops said they believe the shooter opened fire when Torres came to her front door.
A gun was recovered from where Torres was killed, according to police.
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"I’m gonna be lost without her, man," Torres' husband, David Aguilar, said through tears. "I wanna know why he did that...She don’t deserve that. I wish it was me and not her."
Surveillance video from the neighborhood shows the vehicle investigators allege Canzani used to get away -- a dark Chevy Traverse -- pull up in front of Torres' home, according to two law enforcement officials.
A man believed to be Canzani is seen getting out, wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt, baseball hat and sweatpants, and walk up to the front door. He then moves out of the camera's range. A short time later, he is seen walking back to the Chevy with a gun in his hand, the law enforcement officials said. He got in his car and drove off west.
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Canzani drove to the 106th Precinct stationhouse, and got out of the vehicle with the gun still in his hand, officials said. Two officers working security for the precinct took him to the ground, secured the gun and brought Canzani into custody, they said.
Precinct video cameras captured the entire incident.
Canzani was then brought into the station and made incriminating statements to officers at the desk before asking for a lawyer, the law enforcement officials said. The people to whom he spoke were wearing body cameras, which captured his statements.
He essentially admitted to shooting Torres and said something about "they tried to kill me," adding he was already supposed to be dead, the law enforcement officials said.
Police were looking into whether the victim and suspect may have known each other. Torres' son is a police officer, but officials said that they have "no reason to believe that this incident occurred because of his employment with the police department."
Canzani was led out of the precinct Thursday afternoon, and didn't say a word as he was led into a waiting police car.
A preliminary investigation found Torres worked out of her home reading fortunes and working as a spiritual reader, according to the law enforcement officials. The woman's daughter told police her mother had an argument recently with a client who she knew only as "Joey," though it's not clear if he is the same man now accused of killing her.
"Everybody loves my wife, my wife does no wrong to nobody, she’s always helping people," Aguilar said, desperate for answers in his wife's killing.
Police didn't share any possible details on a motive when they announced Canzani's arrest Thursday. Information on his attorney wasn't immediately clear. The weapon he allegedly used has not been linked to any prior crimes, law enforcement officials said.
As for the Chevrolet that Canzani allegedly used to get to Torres' house -- and then to get away -- law enforcement officials say it is registered to his wife. She retained an attorney.
The vehicle will be processed by Crime Scene Units once a search warrant is granted.
Elected officials, NYPD officers and local residents will hold a rally against gun violence on Saturday on Rockaway Boulevard and 101st Street.
