By Gina Martinez
FLUSHING — Police confirmed Friday that the body found earlier this week in Kissena Park was a 17-year-old Corona boy.
A hiker stumbled upon the dead body in Kissena Park on Tuesday, April 24, at 12 p.m. near 161st Street and Booth Memorial Avenue, police said.
When officers arrived, they found the body of Andy Peralta unconscious and unresponsive with trauma to the head. EMS responded and pronounced the victim dead at the scene, according to authorities.
The NYPD said the incident was a homicide and that the investigation was ongoing.
Kissena Park is no stranger to crime. Last July, 29-year-old Charles Tobin was charged with rape after allegedly attacking two women on two consecutive nights in the Flushing park, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
Following the incident, Councilman Peter Koo (D-Flushing) and the city Parks Department announced there would be three new, full-time security guards patrolling Kissena Corridor Park and Kissena Park in Flushing.
— Gina Martinez
