Inset: Melida Velasquez (Facebook/Iglesia Adventista Salem Elim). Background: The Long Island, N.Y., home where Melida Velasquez was allegedly murdered by her son Jason Kurumoglu on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025 (News 12 Long Island/YouTube).
A New York man is behind bars for allegedly stabbing his mother to death inside a home they shared, which sits across the street from an elementary school, just hours after classes let out, cops say.
“They found her upstairs with knives, a bunch of knives sticking out of her and she’s dead,” a neighbor and Brentwood resident told News 12 Long Island after the Tuesday evening slaying of Melida Velasquez, 59, of Brentwood. “She just came back from El Salvador last week,” the neighbor added.
Jason Kurumoglu, 33, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of his mom, who was memorialized by her church in a Facebook post that described Velasquez as a “beloved sister” who will be “deeply missed by her church family and all who knew her.”
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Cops responded to the family’s single-story home in Brentwood at around 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, just hours after classes let out at North Elementary School across the street, according to News 12. District officials sent a message to parents on Wednesday notifying them of what happened and said the investigation would not impact things.
“We are aware of a police investigation taking place near North Elementary School,” wrote Brentwood Superintendent of Schools Wanda Ortiz-Rivera in a statement.
“Please be assured that the incident is unrelated to the school, and all students and staff are safe,” Ortiz-Rivera said. “The school remains open and operating on a normal schedule. We remain in contact with law enforcement and will provide updates if necessary.”
Details and a motive have not been released by local authorities yet, with Kurumoglu scheduled to make his first appearance in court Thursday, according to online records. He is being arraigned and charged in Suffolk County District Court.
Another neighbor told Newsday that while did not know Velasquez personally, news of her death has spread throughout the typically quiet Long Island community of Brentwood, which is about 50 miles east of New York City.
‘I’ve been here 20 years. We’ve never had anything like this,” the neighbor said. “I never thought something like this could happen.”
The post ‘A bunch of knives sticking out of her’: Son slaughters mom in home they shared across from elementary school, cops and neighbors say first appeared on Law & Crime.
