Man charged with murdering his mother in Washington Heights park, NYPD says

A 44-year-old woman was killed in Manhattan’s Fort Washington Park on Sunday afternoon after her son allegedly pushed her down an embankment, police said.

Officials said Vianel Garcia and her son, 22-year-old Miguel Duval, got into a dispute at the Washington Heights park around 4:15 p.m. near West 165th Street and Riverside Drive.

The alleged push left Garcia with serious physical injuries, and she was pronounced dead at Harlem Hospital, according to the NYPD. Police took Duval into custody and charged him with second-degree murder.

NYPD officials could not immediately say whether Duval had a history of domestic violence against his mother. He had not yet been arraigned in court on the murder charge as of mid-Monday morning, a spokesperson for the Manhattan district attorney's office said.

Police said Duval was arrested on June 4 and charged with assault in the third degree for allegedly kicking a man in the head at 651 West 168th St., the address of the Project Renewal men’s homeless shelter in Washington Heights. Court records show he pleaded guilty in that case and was released without bail. A spokesperson for the nonprofit Legal Aid Society, which is representing Duval in the assault case, declined to comment on Monday.

At Garcia’s apartment on East 115th Street and Madison Avenue in East Harlem on Monday, her best friend Bianny Dominguez said she was in shock over Garcia's death.

“She was the best person in the world,” she said through tears. When asked if Garcia ever had problems with her son, Dominguez vigorously shook her head no.

Garcia came to New York City years ago from the Dominican Republic and had been working in a hair salon, according to Dominguez.

The 33rd Precinct, which includes Washington Heights, had recorded three murders this year through July 7, the same number as by the same point the year before, NYPD data shows . There were eight total murders in the precinct in 2023.

Garcia was one of four New Yorkers whom police said were killed in various incidents over the weekend.

Less than an hour earlier on Sunday, 34-year-old Richard Vasquez was stabbed in the chest on Grand Concourse near East 181st Street in the Bronx’s Fordham Heights neighborhood, according to NYPD officials. First responders took him to Saint Barnabas Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police said a 31-year-old man who was with him was stabbed in his torso but was expected to survive. They did not immediately identify a suspect.

Just half a mile away on Saturday around 10:15 p.m., 28-year-old Thomas McCellan was shot in front of an apartment building on Webster Avenue and East 182nd Street after an argument, police said.

A 26-year-old woman who was there was shot in her hand, per the NYPD. Both victims were taken to Saint Barnabas Hospital, where McCellan was pronounced dead and the woman was in stable condition.

Police did not immediately identify any suspects or motives behind the shooting.

Early on Saturday, around 6:30 p.m., first responders found 32-year-old Deon Williams unconscious and unresponsive on Marcus Garvey Boulevard and Myrtle Avenue near NYCHA’s Sumner Houses in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn.

He was taken to Kings County Hospital in critical condition and later pronounced dead.

Police did not immediately make any arrests in the case.

This story has been updated with additional information.