A woman was discovered dead with severe throat injuries at a distressing scene in Bay Ridge, according to law enforcement and her devastated family.
Authorities reported that Maria Santos Flores was found with neck wounds in her residence on 85th Street close to Fourth Avenue.
Her 17-year-old son and sister, Angelica Flores, were the ones who made the shocking find.
“I came to visit her and found her like this,” her grieving sister shared. She was outside with family members while they comforted one another. “She had just come back from work.”
Daisy Flores, another sister, mentioned their family hails from El Salvador.
“She loved helping others and caring for her family,” she said tearfully. “I can’t understand what happened.”
The victim, who was 36, worked as a bartender at Huatulco Sports Bar in Sunset Park during night shifts, according to her family.
“The police haven’t revealed what happened,” her husband, Antonio Hernandez, said. “I’m just waiting for answers. I suspect someone might have followed her home from work.”
The couple had been married for three years and had two children, ages 3 and 17, in the house when the incident occurred.
“When I got in the car to go to work this morning, she hadn’t arrived yet,” he recalled, clarifying he left for work around 7:30 a.m.
NYPD officers marked the sidewalk with yellow evidence markers, including what looked like bloody tissues, and they also took items from the home to an NYPD truck.
This marks the first homicide this year in the NYPD’s 68th Precinct, according to department crime statistics. This precinct is located in southwestern Brooklyn, covering Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights.
So far this year, overall homicides in the city have decreased by 23%, dropping from 144 to 111 in 2025, based on the data.
