By Rebecca Henely
An Elmhurst man was arraigned Friday on charges of murdering his estranged wife last week in the apartment complex where they once shared a flat, according to the criminal complaint filed by the Queens district attorney’s office.
Maximiliano Lozada, 34, allegedly stabbed his wife, Luz Paulino, 33, multiple times at around 8:25 p.m. June 11 in a seventh-floor apartment he rented, at 40-05 Hampton St. in Elmhurst, the complaint said.
After being found by police surrounded by blood and a large broken kitchen knife, Paulino was taken to Elmhurst Hospital Center, where she ended up dying at 9:37 p.m. from the multiple stab wounds she had received, the complaint said.
Following a trail of blood, police later found Lozada at his mother’s home in an apartment complex, at 40-50 Denman St. in Elmhurst, which is about five blocks away, the complaint said. Lozada had a laceration on his right index finger, bruises on his forearms and injuries on his chest, the complaint said. He was arrested last Thursday and charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon, the complaint said.
Lozada was remanded without bail, the Queens district attorney’s office said.
The complaint said Paulino and Lozada had once lived in a fifth-floor apartment at 40-05 Hampton St. but had separated several months ago, with Paulino moving to the Bronx. Some witnesses had told police they had heard numerous arguments coming from Lozada’s apartment, the complaint said.
One neighbor said the couple had a 7-year-old son, who had been living with his grandmother in Santo Domingo.
Before and after the attack, surveillance footage allegedly showed Lozada entering and leaving the Hampton Street apartment complex, the complaint said.
An officer on the scene June 12 and neighbors said Lozada went across the street and bought a beer at the Jazmina Grocery shortly after the slaying.
Blood was found in Lozada’s apartment, an elevator in the complex and Lozada’s mother’s home, the complaint said.
Lozada’s name was on an employee list at La Casa Del Pollo Peruano II, on Roosevelt Avenue near 82nd Street. Neighbors said he worked there as a cashier.
His next court date is July 27, the DA said.
Reach reporter Rebecca Henely by e-mail at rhenely@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.
