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Tearful NYPD officers lined the streets of the Bronx on Thursday as the funeral was held of a young female officer who investigators say was stabbed to death by her estranged husband.
Traffic was halted along the usually busy Fordham Road as the police procession made it’s way from the funeral home to the cemetery where Officer Arianna Reyes-Gomez, 31, was to be buried.
Her husband Argenis de Jesus Baez Pinzano, 34, has been charged with the murder, and is even said to have told cops that Reyes-Gomez asked him to kill her.
There were emotional scenes at the Riverdale Funeral Home both inside and out as colleagues arrived by the busload.
The funeral of Arianna Reyes-Gomez, 31, took place in the Bronx on Thursday
Officers could be seen embracing one another as the sadness of the occasional overwhelmed
Officers took a moment to hug one another as they remembered their fallen comrade
Many officers could be seen with tears in their eyes as they stood outside the funeral home
For some it was simply too much and they were unable to fight back tears any longer
Eight officers carried the casket of Arianna Reyes-Gomez at Riverdale Funeral Home
A couple of officers can be seen embracing on another outside the funeral home on Thursday
New York City Mayor Eric Adams attends the funeral of NYPD Transit Officer Arianna Reyes-Gomez at Riverdale Funeral Home
Mayor Eric Adams could be seen leaving the funeral home following the ceremony
Friends and family of Reyes-Gomez were also seen coming out of the funeral home
The NYPD-flag draped coffin was taken to a hearse which would transport it to a cemetery
Arianna Reyes-Gomez, 31, was found unconscious and unresponsive with multiple stab wounds to her body at around 2:50am on Monday. Her estranged husband Argenis de Jesus Baez Pizano, right, has been charged with the murder
Officers formed a line outside the home as they waited in silence as they paid their respects to the fallen officer who was 31-years-old.
Before heading inside the home, fellow officers greeted one another and hugged.
Many of those pictured could be seen welling up as the emotion and sadness of the occasion simply overwhelmed them.
Some of New York’s Bravest could be seen wiping away tears from their cheeks as they bid a final farewell to the officer who was remembered as someone who bravely protected the public.
‘A lady that protected us, she couldn’t protect herself,’ the Rev. Oswald Dennis said. ‘We’re here to pray for her. We’re here to pray for her children. We’re here to pray for her family members.’
NYPD officers saluted Reyes-Gomez coffin as it made its way into the street outside
Officers with the NYPD could be seen lining the road as the ceremony got underway
Officers saluted as the hearse passed by. An NYPD police helicopter hovered overhead
Police Commissioner of the City of New York Sewell Keechant L. Sewell attended the funeral
Pedestrians line the route of procession for NYPD Transit Officer Arianna Reyes-Gomez, 31
NYPD officer salutes as the procession for NYPD Transit Officer Arianna Reyes-Gomez
The cortege was flanked by police cars and motorcycles
The hearse is pictured traveling along Fordham Road on its way to the cemetery in the Bronx
Officer Reyes-Gomez joined the NYPD in April 2019 and had been assigned to patrol the New York City subway. She was recently commended for saving a man from an overdose.
Prosecutors say Reyes-Gomez was killed by her husband, 34-year-old Argenis Baez Pizano at her Grand Concourse apartment in the early hours of Monday.
Surveillance footage saw the husband struggle with Reyes-Gomez at her door to her apartment before he forced himself inside.
He left one minute later holding holding a knife and leaving a bloody footprint.
On Wednesday, Pizano said his estranged wife ‘is the one who told me to kill’ her.
His partner ‘is the one who told me to do this. She told me what to do,’ Pizano told police, Assistant District Attorney David Birnbaum said during Pizano’s arraignment at Bronx Criminal Court.
‘Look for him,’ he said, adding, ‘I can’t believe I did this,’ according to Birnbaum.
“The defendant here is accused of murdering the victim, a New York City police officer whom he has a child in common. He stabbed her multiple times – approximately 8 times, in her breast, leg, torso and back,” Birnbaum told the court.
One attendee was in tears at Reyes-Gomez’s funeral as she waited outside the home
Tears roll down the cheeks of an NYPD officer who stood to pay tribute to Reyes-Gomez
One mourner closed her eyes and let the tears flow as the emotion was simply too much
Family members, friends and co-workers were all in attendance at Reyes-Gomez’s funeral
Mourners closed their eyes and prayed for the fallen officer on Thursday
Officers walked alongside the hearse on Thursday afternoon during the funeral
The coffin could be seen above the heads of members of the public on Thursday
Eight members of the NYPD could be seen resting the coffin on their shoulders
He was also pictured Monday night being walked by officers to a squad car outside the precinct while in handcuffs after being taken into custody.
The couple were estranged, but had never been reported to local authorities before.
Pizano, is not believed to have a criminal history. The couple had a three-year-old son who is living in Georgia with relatives, according to NBC.
A motive for the killing has not been made clear.
‘We’ve had far to many cases of domestic violence homicides in the Bronx,’ said Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson said.
Officers can be seen lined up outside the Riverdale Funeral Home as they wait for the funeral of Reyes-Gomez to begin
Officers looked tense as they arrived for the ceremony on Thursday
Officers could be seen standing in silence as they waited outside of the home
Family members and co-workers closed their eyes as the hearse passed by
Hundreds of officers from the NYPD attended the funeral ceremony on Thursday
Mourners are seen fighting back tears as the funeral procession passes by
‘It can happen to anyone, even police officers, even first responders. So it just reminds us that we have to keep doing this work, we have to keep focusing on resources and programs for victims of domestic violence, giving them a safe space and an outlet to go to.’
On Wednesday night, a candlelight vigil was held outside her apartment building. Friends and family were present together with fellow domestic violence victims.
‘Her heart is broken,’ said Reyes-Gomez’s sister, Julissa in Spanish.
‘She loved her sister. She was very much loved by her sister, and that is what she is going to miss the most. Her affection and sincerity as a woman and a sister for her.’
Baez turned himself to police at the 44th precinct in the hours following the murder. He has been charged with murder, manslaughter, and criminal possession of a weapon.
If convicted, Pizano faces a life sentence, the judge said on Tuesday.
Argenis de Jesus Baez Pizano is placed into a car as he is taken into custody
Argenis de Jesus Baez Pizano, is said to have then turned himself in to the 44th precinct
Argenis de Jesus Baez Pizano is pictured in photographs given to DailyMail.com by a neighbor
An NYPD officer honors the police woman after her body was brought inside an ambulance
Medics wrapped up the victim in a body bag before taking her away on Monday
‘What happens sometimes is folks forget behind that shield on the chest, even though we look strong, even though we live in your neighborhood and patrol your neighborhood, we are part of the community,’ PBA President Pat Lynch said. ‘And the things and the violence and the sorrow that affects you in your home, affects us in ours.’
‘We don’t know what was going on with them, we just knew they were separated,’ Gomez’s brother, Pedro Reyes, said to the Daily News. ‘We can’t believe it.’
‘We’re feeling awful about this. We are in shock. We have no words,’ he added.
”She was really a single mother. [Her son] was being taken care of by his grandparents and aunts. He was going to come back to New York in September to start school. She was so helpful, she helped everybody,’ her brother said. ‘She loved being a police officer. She was studying to be a sergeant.
‘She worked hard to become a police officer. We want justice.’
Gomez is survived by three sisters, two brother and her young son.
The NYPD Crime Scene Unit is seen at the apartment of deceased NYPD officer Arianna Reyes- Gomez
Reyes-Gomez, 31, was stabbed to death in the early hours of Monday morning at an apartment complex inside an apartment building on Grand Course in the Bronx (pictured)
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