Queens woman accused of killing super served eviction notice: court docs
KEW GARDENS HILLS, Queens (PIX11) – A Queens woman accused of killing a superintendent was served an eviction notice on Jan. 2, according to court documents.
Sandra Coto Navarro, 48, and her husband were two years behind on rent and owed $24,000, the NYPD said. They had two weeks from Jan. 2 to leave the apartment, court documents showed.
The super, identified as 55-year-old Jose Portillo, went to Navarro’s apartment on 70th Avenue around 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday and never came out, police said. The property owner later called police to do a wellness check after he didn’t see Portillo leaving the apartment on surveillance cameras, according to authorities.
Portillo was later found dead in a garbage bag underneath a bed in Navarro’s apartment, police said.
He suffered from blunt force trauma to his face and head and was also stabbed in the neck and left leg, police said.
Navarro and her husband were both taken into custody, according to authorities. The husband was later released because surveillance cameras showed he was at work all day and didn’t come home until 20 minutes before the wellness check, police said.
Navarro was arrested on Thursday charged with murder, tampering with physical evidence and criminal possession of a weapon.
Erin Pflaumer is a digital content producer from Long Island who has covered both local and national news since 2018. She joined PIX11 in 2023. See more of her work here.