GREENWICH — The Connecticut medical examiner says the woman found dead in a suitcase along a roadway in February died from a lack of oxygen.
The Greenwich Time reports that the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed Monday that 24-year-old Valerie Reyes’ official cause of death was “homicidal asphyxia.”
Town public works employees in Greenwich found the New Rochelle, New York woman’s body in a suitcase on Feb. 5, six days after her family reported her missing.
Her ex-boyfriend, Javier Da Silva Rojas, of New York City, is being held on a federal kidnapping resulting in death charge. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.
His attorneys have not commented, but he told police after his arrest that Reyes fell and hit her head.
