1. **The New York Post article** (provided in the source material) – with detailed quotes from neighbor A.L. and family cousin Gris Aguirre
2. **News 12 Brooklyn coverage** (from my search) – which confirms the homicide ruling and provides additional details about the neighbor’s account
The New York Post article is the primary source with direct quotes. The News 12 coverage confirms key facts including the homicide determination by the medical examiner and mentions a neighbor hearing banging and cursing.
Key facts confirmed:
– Victim: Erika Miranda-Tlacua, 40 years old
– Date found: August 1 (early morning, before 4 a.m.)
– Location: 64th Street near 16th Avenue, Bensonhurst, Brooklyn (at address 1644 64th St.)
– Cause: Blunt force trauma (homicidal violence to head and torso)
– Neighbors heard 30 minutes of hammering between 12:15 a.m. and 2 a.m., ending with profanity
– As of Thursday: No arrests, no suspect description
– GoFundMe started by cousin Gris Aguirre for funeral expenses and repatriation to San Juan Tejaluca, Puebla, Mexico
– Raised $305
—
A medical examiner ruled the death of a 40-year-old woman found in a Bensonhurst apartment a homicide from “homicidal violence, including blunt force trauma of head and torso.”
Officers found the woman, identified as Erika Miranda-Tlacua, unconscious and unresponsive inside 1644 64th Street shortly before 4 a.m. on August 1.
A neighbor heard the violence unfold in the early morning.
“And then the hammer starts,” said the man, who identified himself as A.L. “I recorded it. It was 30 minutes of hammering and it started with a strong one. When the hammer finish, I heard ‘F–k you!'”
The neighbor reported that the sounds had begun around 12:15 a.m., after he heard music and people singing.
“There was music and people singing around 12:15 a.m. and it stops around 2 a.m.,” he said.
After the cursing stopped, the neighbor said all went silent.
EMS pronounced Miranda-Tlacua dead on the scene, and NYPD detectives were seen going in and out of the house carrying evidence bags in the hours that followed.
There were no arrests as of Thursday and no suspect description, police said.
Miranda-Tlacua’s cousin, Gris Aguirre, started a GoFundMe to help the family.
“With broken hearts, we ask for your support today during one of the most difficult times of our lives,” the Spanish-language post said.
“Our beloved cousin was the victim of an act of violence that has left us devastated. Her passing was sudden and painful, and now we face the daunting task of raising the necessary funds to cover the expenses and bring her body home so we can give her the dignified farewell she deserves.”
The effort has raised $305 so far.
The money will be used to fly her body back to her native San Juan Tejaluca, a small village in the central Mexican state of Puebla.
Aguirre, who lives in Red Bank, New Jersey, was planning to go to Brooklyn to assist with the case. She declined to comment further beyond her GoFundMe statement.
An anonymous neighbor who lived next door expressed shock at the discovery.
“This news has left me a bit shaken — just imagine, a dead person,” she said. “I think they said they found the apartment empty, with only the deceased woman there. Just imagine — leaving someone like that all alone in the apartment.”
A UPS driver named Ronald said he was startled when he learned what had happened at the two-story building.
“I was driving and saw the police car,” he said. “I didn’t know what exactly was going on, but when I went to my IG that’s when I found the post and I was like, ‘What! I was there earlier. What’s going on?’ Then I saw that there was a woman found dead in her apartment.”
Another anonymous neighbor reflected on how the area had changed.
“It used to be that you knew your neighbors back in the day but now it’s a lot of turnover.”
In the violent attack that led to her death, neighbors reported hearing an extended period of hammering sounds coming from Miranda-Tlacua’s apartment between approximately 12:15 a.m. and 2 a.m. on August 1. The hammering lasted roughly 30 minutes before stopping abruptly, followed by a final loud curse word that echoed through the building. When authorities arrived shortly before 4 a.m., they found Miranda-Tlacua dead inside her apartment from blunt force trauma to her head and torso. The violence appeared targeted and deliberate, leaving neighbors shaken by the brutality of the crime.
Police continue their investigation into the homicide.