The NYPD has released photographs of the man it says is responsible for the brutal killing of a Bay Ridge mother more than a month ago, putting a face to the suspect in a case that has unsettled the Brooklyn neighborhood where the crime unfolded. The move came as residents on the block openly questioned why it had taken so long to identify the man police are now hunting.
Police identified the suspect as 43-year-old Misael Cruz. The victim was 36-year-old Maria Santos Flores, a mother of two. Officers responded to her home on 85th Street just after 9 o'clock in the morning on June 20th, where they found the 36-year-old dead with her throat slit, a discovery that turned an ordinary Bay Ridge street into the scene of a horrific homicide.
Investigators believe Cruz and Santos Flores knew each other, according to State Senator Andrew Gounardes, but the motive behind the killing remains a mystery. More than a month after the murder, detectives say they know who they are looking for, and they are hoping that releasing Cruz's name and image will prompt someone who recognizes him to come forward with information on where he is.
People who live on the block where the nightmare unfolded expressed frustration over the pace of the case. One resident questioned how, with the suspect allegedly captured on camera from the scene all the way down Fifth Avenue, it had taken a month for police to move. The delay has weighed on neighbors still shaken by the violence in their midst.
Friends remembered Santos Flores as a warm presence in the community. They said she worked as a bartender at Huatolco Sports Bar in Sunset Park, and described her as a very nice young woman. Her death sent grief through the circles of those who knew her, both in the neighborhood and among the patrons and coworkers at the bar where she worked.
After her death, a GoFundMe helped her family return her remains to El Salvador, where she has now been laid to rest, leaving behind her two children. Neighbors said the loss moved even those who barely knew her, with some saying they were brought to tears and had donated to help her family through the ordeal.
With the investigation now focused on locating Cruz, police are asking anyone who has seen him to call the 68th Precinct. Detectives are betting that the release of his photos will generate the tip that leads to an arrest, bringing a measure of justice for a mother whose killing has left a Bay Ridge block searching for answers more than a month later.