The body of 15-year old Destiny Sanchez was discovered by a relative Friday morning in the lobby of an apartment building in the Hunts Point section.
Her family says that the body apparently been doused in bleach in a possible effort to hide evidence.
While police have not arrested anyone in her death, 34-year-old Luis Vega, a brother of Destiny's stepmother, is under arrest, charged with giving the 15-year-old alcohol on the night she was attacked.
A report by the New York City Medical Examiner says the teen died of a compression of the neck and smothering.
Destiny Sanchez's mother, sat in a white car for some time Saturday afternoon, yards from the spot where her child took her last breath. She was there Friday as well.
"She came to me asking if I heard the screams of her daughter..I didn't know it was Destiny," said Vivian Negron.
Family and friends gathered at the scene Friday, grief-stricken, as news of the crime spread throughout her extended family. She'd left for the store Thursday night, and never returned.
Several New York City auto clubs pulled together for a quiet memorial Saturday, where candles flickered in Destiny's memory.
---
