Riverhead’s Latino community was shaken yesterday by a new tragedy following the deadly blaze Tuesday night that claimed the lives of five family members: the stabbing death of a young Salvadoran woman, who police said was a victim of domestic violence.
Family members of Marta Esmeralda Carbajal Ramírez, 20, said yesterday they were shocked by news of her death.
The woman’s domestic partner, Karen Abigail Delacruz Reyes, 21, was arrested on a charge of Manslaughter in the First Degree, Suffolk police said yesterday. She was arraigned yesterday in Riverhead Justice Court and remanded to the Suffolk County Correctional Facility.
Family members said the two women had lived together for about a year.
“We can’t believe it yet. We don’t understand what happened,” the victims niece, María Raquel López, said. López worked with Carbajal in a Riverhead nursery.
Family members said they have learned that the couple got into an argument that turned violent Thursday night and ended with a fatal stab wound.
“My aunt was going out, but the other girl didn’t want her to go out. She was very jealous and they started arguing,” López said. She said Carbajal was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery but succumbed to her injury.
Carbajal’s family said she was a kind young woman, who loved to joke, got along well with everyone and had many friends.
In addition to her work, her other passion was soccer, a sport to which she dedicated many hours of training and effort. Known by the knickname “Tame,” Carbajal was part of the “Juventud Los Prados” team and had earned the affection and admiration of her teammates and soccer fans.
“We woke up with sad news that we would never want to publish. Our Juventud Los Prados team is in mourning for the loss of our player,” the team said in a Facebook post. “We have no choice but to thank you for those joys you gave us and may God have you in his holy glory.”
Family members, friends and teammates began an effort Friday to raise the necessary funds to take Carbajal’s body to Los Prados, Chalatenango in El Salvador, where the young woman’s parents live.
Several collection boxes have been placed in commercial establishments in Riverhead and the family also started a fundraising campaign through Facebook.
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