Funeral held for NYPD officer murdered inside Bronx apartment
INWOOD, Manhattan (WABC) -- Family, friends and fellow officers gathered in Upper Manhattan Thursday to bid a final farewell to an NYPD officer who investigators say was stabbed to death by her estranged husband in the Bronx.
Funeral services were held for Officer Arianna Reyes-Gomez, who was remembered as someone who bravely protected the public.
It was an emotional scene at the Riverdale Funeral Home as colleagues made their way inside.
"A lady that protected us, she couldn't protect herself," the Rev. Oswald Dennis said. "We're here to pray for her. We're here to pray for her children. We're here to pray for her family members."
Reyes-Gomez was just 31 years old when prosecutors say her estranged husband, 34-year-old Argenis Baez Pizano, stabbed her several times at her Grand Concourse apartment Monday.
A detective wrote in court documents that surveillance footage captured the defendant struggle with Reyes-Gomez at her door before he pushed himself into her apartment and emerge approximately one minute later holding a knife and leaving a bloody footprint."
A candlelight vigil outside the apartment Wednesday night attracted fellow domestic violence victims, along with friends and family.
One officer was fighting back tears, while Reyes-Gomez's sister Julissa found the strength to talk about her sister.
"Her heart is broken," a translator said, as Julissa spoke in Spanish. "She loved her sister. She was very much loved by her sister, and that is what she is going to miss the most. Her affection and sincerity as a woman and a sister for her."
Baez surrendered to police and is charged with murder, manslaughter, and criminal possession of a weapon.
"What happens sometimes is folks forget behind that shield on the chest, even though we look strong, even though we live in your neighborhood and patrol your neighborhood, we are part of the community," PBA President Pat Lynch said. "And the things and the violence and the sorrow that affects you in your home, affects us in ours."
Officer Reyes-Gomez was assigned to patrol the subway and recently commended for saving a man from an overdose.
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