Investigation into death of Long Island doctor found in doorway of Chelsea apartment

ByKala Rama WABC logo
Monday, October 5, 2015
Police investigate death of LI doctor
Kala Rama has the latest on the investigation into the death of a Long Island doctor at a Chelsea apartment building.

CHELSEA, N.Y. (WABC) -- Police are investigating the mysterious death of a doctor found dead in the doorway of a Chelsea apartment building.

UPDATED STORY: Timeline of events reveals new details leading up to doctor's death in Chelsea

The woman has been identified as 38-year-old Kiersten Cerveny of Manhasset, but the cause of death has not yet been determined.

Police have a search warrant and are going through the apartment the doctor was visiting.

Everyone in the building has been interviewed, and one person police were questioning has been released.

Police say Cerveny was found unconscious in the vestibule of the Chelsea building at 221 West 16th Street Sunday morning.

Bodega worker Manny Guam was making deliveries Sunday morning when he saw a man flagging down the ambulance to take away a woman who he says was half naked.

"They took and she was naked from here to up and was without shoes," he said.

Cervany is married, has a family and was a dermatologist living on Long Island.

Her friends told police they were out Saturday night for a night of partying that included drugs and alcohol, authorities say.

Police have not released details on what the Long Island mom was doing in the building, but the neighbors want answers.

Some have even looked at the surveillance footage from the camera aimed at the front door of the building.

"There's a woman that went in that didn't live in the building. And...so, she came out with a different person and that's all that was shown," one resident said.

In addition to police interviewing those in the video, police tell us they have also interviewed the victim's husband.

An autopsy is being done later Monday that should give police an exact cause of death.

Neighbors say they woke up to a sound of an ambulance, and one man says he saw a woman receiving chest compressions. As investigators work, neighbors are waiting for more information.

The building's super, Luis Serrano, said a man seen on video with the Dr. Cervany lives on the 3rd floor.