On a cold winter day in College Point, Queens, the lives of a family were tragically cut short in a brutal act of violence. On January 7, 1995, 15-year-old Carla Lopez was found murdered alongside five other people in an apartment. The other victims were her mother, Maria Ramirez, who was 42; her 17-year-old sister, Paola Andrea Lopez; her mother's partner, Alex DeJesus, 29; his cousin, Pablo Villanueva Calle Soto, 29; and a 16-year-old family friend, Melinda Wynns.
The horrific event
was set in motion by a financial dispute involving Alex DeJesus. Two men, Jose Angulo and Victor Rodriguez, went to the apartment with the intention of killing DeJesus over a loan he was demanding be repaid. Armed with a 9mm pistol fitted with a silencer, they first shot and killed DeJesus and his cousin when they arrived home.
Following the initial murders, the assailants rounded up the four women and girls present in the apartment. They proceeded to tie them up before shooting and stabbing them to death. In a miraculous turn of events, one intended victim survived the horrific attack. Despite being shot in the head and having her throat cut, she managed to escape and alert the authorities, which led to the discovery of the massacre.
The investigation into the six murders ultimately led to the capture of Jose Angulo and Victor Rodriguez. The two men were tried for their crimes and subsequently convicted for their roles in the gruesome killings. Each was sentenced to 170 years in prison without the possibility of parole, ensuring they would not have the opportunity to inflict such violence on anyone else.
