A Queens woman was discovered dead outside her home Thursday evening in a case that police are now investigating as a homicide.
NYPD officials said officers responded to a 911 call at around 5:30 p.m. and found 64-year-old Juliet Kashidas-Singh unresponsive near 103rd Avenue and 105th Street in South Ozone Park. She was pronounced dead at the scene and had injuries to her face, according to officials.
Police said they arrested 40-year-old Francisco Sevilla at around 1 a.m. Friday, charging him with first-degree murder and weapons possession in connection with Kashidas-Singh’s death. Officials said the two knew each other but police were still looking into their relationship. Police said he lived about a half-mile away from Kashidas-Singh.
At the home Friday morning, there were signs a struggle had occurred on the front steps, including blood spots, overturned furniture and broken pieces of décor. A discarded wallet was also visible, and the area was closed off with crime scene tape, which encircled a red pickup truck parked on the street.
Neighbor Annie Persaud said she was home Thursday night and was shocked to hear sirens coming from directly outside. She said she was not sure how Kashidas-Singh and Sevilla knew each other, but noted that the truck appeared to belong to him.
“Sometimes he’d take her out and bring her back and stuff,” Persaud said, adding that she never saw them fighting. “He’s been here often.”
Other neighbors said Kashidas-Singh was a pleasant presence on the quiet street who owned a landscaping company and mostly kept to herself. Online records show a company called J & H Landscaping Inc. was registered at her address.
Sevilla’s arraignment was pending in Queens Criminal Court on Friday morning. Information for his lawyer was not yet available.
The city medical examiner has not officially determined a cause of death.
The NYPD’s 106th Precinct, which includes South Ozone Park and other parts of South Central Queens, had recorded no homicides so far this year through Feb. 23, compared with one during the same period last year, police data shows.
This story has been updated with additional information.
