WASHINGTON HEIGHTS N.Y. (PIX11) \u2014 As police moved in and out of the apartment on a quiet block of 156th Street in Washington Heights, neighbors were coming to grips with a horrible discovery made in their building.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The NYPD identified the 27-year-old woman as Lovay Williams<\/a>. The mother was found with neck and facial trauma.<\/p>\n \u00a0Get ongoing crime and safety coverage on our homepage\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Neighbors say she and her 7-year-old little girl often played loud music, and they sometimes heard screaming from inside the apartment, but generally they kept to themselves.<\/p>\n The little girl came to the door when police performed a wellness check on Sunday. It’s not clear how long she was with her mother’s body.<\/p>\n “I never saw anyone besides her and the daughter,” said neighbor Luz Perez. “I hope they find them. I hope they do. That poor little girl, she lost her mother, and that’s sad. She should not have to go through that at her age.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Jim Aiken helped police access the building surveillance video, which showed a man moving in and out of the building Sunday morning. It was just about an hour before police found Williams during the wellness check at 1:30 p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n “It’s sad for the family, especially for the little girl,” said Jim Aiken. “He left at 12:24 p.m. with a bunch of trash bags full of stuff.”<\/p>\n No information has been released about any potential suspect, witness, or person of interest. The investigation is ongoing.<\/p>\n The family of the victim announced on social media that they will be holding a balloon release at 7 p.m. at 132nd Street between Fifth and Madison Avenues.<\/p>\n Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting\u00a0crimestoppers.nypdonline.org<\/a>, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).<\/p>\n Andrew Cruz is a digital content producer. A native New Yorker, he joined PIX11 in 2009 as a weather producer. More of his work can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n