Queens woman strangled to death over $300, police sources say
A Queens woman was strangled to death with an electrical cord by a man she had hired to do work at her house, police sources say.
Juliet Kashidas-Singh, 64, was found dead on the front steps of her home on 103rd Avenue near 105th Street in Ozone Park late Thursday night.
Francisco Sevilla, 40, was arrested at around 1 a.m. Friday after his wallet was found at the crime scene. He was charged with first-degree murder.
According to police sources, Sevilla said Kashidas-Singh owed him $300 and they got into an argument about the money.
Sevilla claimed he was under the influence and doesn't remember committing a crime, police sources say.
Neighborhood's first homicide of 2025 sends shockwaves
Neighbors said Kashidas-Singh was a mother and owned a landscaping business, and remembered her as a hard worker.
"He was working with her and was staying there, but I don't know the relationship," one neighbor said.
Her death sent shockwaves through the community. This was the neighborhood's first homicide of 2025, according to police data.
Navil Persaud unknowingly walked up to the gruesome scene.
"When I came up, I just watch over and I see, like, she's lying down. Like lying down, straight down," he said. "For a lady that age, for something like that happen, that's terrible."
"It's a terrible way to go for a human being," a neighbor named Rocky said.