A 31-year-old woman was found stabbed to death inside a Queens apartment Wednesday in a disturbing case that ended with her boyfriend falling from the roof of the seven-story building as police responded.
The victim, identified as Pheona Premraji, was discovered shortly before noon inside a second-floor apartment on Neilson Street in Far Rockaway, according to police and law-enforcement sources.
Authorities said Premraji suffered multiple stab wounds to her face, neck and body. A knife believed to have been used in the attack was reportedly found near her.
Police are investigating the death as a homicide.
Her 32-year-old boyfriend, who lived in the apartment, was identified by sources as the suspected attacker. He had not been formally charged as of Thursday afternoon.
The case took an even more dramatic turn moments after the alleged attack.
Witnesses said the man climbed onto the roof of the apartment building as police arrived and appeared to be preparing to jump.
Neighbors reportedly shouted for him to come down while officers rushed into the building.
One resident said the man initially lay near the edge of the roof before eventually moving over it and hanging from the side.
He then fell from the building.
Police found him critically injured on the ground below. Sources said he also had slash wounds on his wrists, ankles and torso, although authorities have not publicly explained how those injuries occurred.
He was taken to Mount Sinai South Nassau hospital in critical condition.
Investigators were then directed to the second-floor apartment after the building superintendent told officers where the injured man lived.
That is when police discovered Premraji’s body.
Family members are now describing a relationship they say had been troubled for years.
Premraji’s uncle told the New York Post that his niece had been dating the man for roughly six years and had previously complained that he was abusive.
He claimed Premraji had left the relationship at least once and stayed with relatives before eventually returning.
A neighbor also told the newspaper that police had been called to the apartment before because of arguments between the couple.
Law-enforcement sources said officers had records of several previous domestic disputes involving the man, including at least two incidents involving Premraji.
In one reported incident from April, he allegedly threw Premraji’s computer to the floor during an argument before she threw his phone.
Police were also reportedly called to the couple’s home on Christmas Eve in 2020 following another heated argument about their relationship.
Sources said a separate prior incident involved an allegation that the man punched a female cousin in the mouth, knocking out a tooth.
Those earlier allegations did not result in convictions connected to Wednesday’s killing, and investigators have not publicly said whether any of them will play a role in the current homicide investigation.
Premraji’s family remembered her as someone who remained deeply connected to her relatives despite the difficulties in her personal life.
Her cousin, Akbar Khan, said he had spoken with her only days before her death.
The conversation had been completely ordinary. They talked about the end of summer and what they might do the following year.
Khan said Premraji was especially close to her father, who brought her to the United States from Guyana when she was a child.
She reportedly visited him almost every week.
Her father had worked hard to bring his daughter to the U.S., provide her with an education and send her to college, relatives said.
Now, the family is struggling to understand how her life ended so violently.
The boyfriend remained hospitalized Thursday as detectives continued investigating.
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