A suspect arrested in connection with the death of a woman whose body was found stuffed and abandoned in a suitcase on Long Island last week was in possession of date rape and other illegal drugs at the time of his arrest, authorities said.
Ronald Schroeder, 31, was arrested Friday in New York's Pennsylvania Station after the decomposed body of Sekeya Jones, 31, was discovered in a case next to her Huntington apartment a few days earlier. ABC7 reported..
Schroeder, who is accused of concealing a body in the gruesome case, is alleged to have been in possession of drugs when he was handcuffed on an outstanding arrest warrant.
According to Suffolk County Police, the suspect's arrest came after the victim's body was discovered inside a package in a wooded area near Huntington Station last Tuesday after local residents complained of a foul odor.
The mother's body was found in the fetal position with black string wrapped around her wrists.
Authorities said a bungee cord was also wrapped around the suitcase.
Police said Jones, who was reported missing by her family on Aug. 16, was last seen on surveillance camera walking through a building in Huntington Station.
Police are still investigating how long the body had been left in the wooded area before it was discovered.
It also wasn't immediately clear how long Jones had been dead before the horrific discovery was made.
Autopsy results to confirm her official cause of death have yet to be released by the Suffolk County Coroner's Office.
Family members said the victim leaves behind a 4-year-old son and was experiencing homelessness and mental health issues at the time of her disappearance.
“We failed to help her with her mental illness, but that doesn't give someone the right to reach out and put my sister in a suitcase and shove her in the bushes like it's nothing,” her sister, Shacia Correnti, told ABC7.
Meanwhile, Schroeder is being held without bail in the Suffolk County Jail following his arrest.
The defendant's attorney told the court that his client waived his right to appear at Saturday's arraignment due to illness.
The suspect is due to appear in court again on Thursday.
