Nassau County, N.Y. — New York prosecutors have revealed disturbing new details in the killing of Aleena Asif, a 46-year-old Long Island mother who was found dead in her home last October with chemical burns to her face.
According to a statement from the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, Asif was allegedly murdered by her estranged husband, Asif Qureshi, who investigators say secretly entered her residence and waited for her to return home after dropping off her children at school.
Asif was discovered dead on Oct. 17 after her teenage daughter contacted police when her mother failed to pick up her youngest child from school. Officers responding to the Long Island home found Asif lying face up on her bed with visible red chemical burns around her mouth, prosecutors said.
The Nassau County Medical Examiner later determined that Asif died from asphyxiation caused by inhalation of a chemical agent, which authorities identified as cyanide.
Investigators allege that Qureshi, 53, entered the home while Asif was taking her 14-year-old and 7-year-old children to school and hid inside the residence. Her 18-year-old child had already left earlier for college classes. Once Asif returned home alone, prosecutors say Qureshi held cyanide over her mouth, killing her, and then left her body inside the home for the children to discover.
“A home should be a place of sanctuary, but this defendant turned it into a house of horrors,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly said in a statement.
Authorities said Qureshi was identified and tracked through surveillance footage that allegedly showed a hooded individual unlocking the front door and entering Asif’s residence. Investigators later matched the clothing and accessories seen in the video to Qureshi, who was also captured on camera at a nearby convenience store close to his residence.
Qureshi, who was previously reported to be an unemployed software engineer, has been charged with second-degree murder and two counts of first-degree burglary. If convicted, he faces 25 years to life in prison.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is scheduled to return to court in February, according to prosecutors.
Credit: People
