The death of a 41-year-old homeless woman whose lifeless body was found on a hiking trail in an Upper Manhattan park has been ruled a homicide, cops said Friday.
A passerby stumbled upon Doris Perez’s remains inside Highbridge Park near Amsterdam Ave. and W. 174th St. around 9:20 a.m. Wednesday, police said.
Perez was found lying face up in the park, which runs nearly 3 miles from Washington Heights to Inwood and abuts the Harlem River Drive.
The city’s medical examiner later determined that a puncture wound found in the woman’s back caused her death, which was ruled a homicide.
Highbridge Park runs nearly 3 miles from Washington Heights to Inwood, east of Amsterdam Ave. and abuts the Harlem River Drive. (Mariela Lombard for New York Daily News)
The woman’s body was found just 12 hours before another 41-year-old woman was attacked in an attempted sexual assault in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, cops said.
The victim in the Brooklyn attack was walking near the park’s Boathouse on E. Drive when the suspect approached her around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday and tried to strike up a conversation, NBC 4 New York reported.
The woman then attempted to distance herself from the man, but he pursued her as she walked away, and then grabbed her. The suspect then tried to sexually assault the woman, but she managed to get away, cops said.
The victim was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries.
No arrests have been made.