Angel Carrasco, a father accused of pushing his estranged girlfriend from a 15th-floor New York City balcony as she held their eight-month-old daughter, appeared to smirk while being led away by police.
Carrasco, 31, was arrested on Wednesday by US Marshals and NYPD officers.
The arrest came one day after 23-year-old Nathaly Ramirez fell from her Bronx apartment in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Authorities allege that Carrasco shoved Ramirez from the balcony while she was holding their daughter, who is also named Angel.
Video recorded during Carrasco’s arrest appeared to show him grinning as officers escorted him away.
He tilted his head from side to side, smiling and laughing, before officers placed him inside a vehicle.
Residents and emergency responders found Ramirez and her infant badly injured after the fall. Both were taken to a hospital.
Doctors were unable to save Ramirez. Her baby survived but remains in critical condition.
Video appeared to show Carrasco grinning as officers escorted him away
Nathaly Ramirez, 23, fell from her Bronx apartment early Tuesday
Angel Carrasco, 31, was arrested by US Marshals and NYPD officers on Wednesday
Ramirez and her baby fell from the 15th floor of this Bronx apartment building
Investigators say Carrasco had gone to Ramirez’s home in an effort to repair their relationship.
The attempted reconciliation allegedly turned into a terrifying confrontation after Ramirez rejected his efforts to reunite. Carrasco is accused of losing his temper and pushing her and their baby.
He allegedly fled afterward, leaving behind a bouquet of flowers he had brought for Ramirez.
Carrasco remained missing while detectives worked to reconstruct the events. On Wednesday, the NYPD issued a wanted poster featuring a disturbing image that appeared to show him handling a large kitchen knife inside an elevator.
US Marshals and NYPD officers located and arrested him several hours later.
‘This horrific tragedy weighs heavily on every team member who worked this case,’ US Marshal Ricky J Patel said. ‘We owed it to the brave mother who gave her life to save her child from a vicious individual.’
He added: ‘While nothing can undo this terrible loss, taking this suspect off the street ensures he will answer for his alleged heinous actions.’
The arrest has also renewed scrutiny of Carrasco’s alleged history of violence involving Ramirez.
According to law enforcement sources, the couple had already been at the center of two domestic incidents earlier this year.
On January 5, Carrasco was accused of slapping Ramirez and leaving her bruised after she confronted him about communicating with an ex-girlfriend.
Three days later, the suspected shover was arrested again following another dispute. Sources said the estranged boyfriend was accused of breaking into Ramirez’s apartment and waiting for her inside, leading to a burglary charge.
That case was later sealed.
Carrasco was also accused of previously sending threatening text messages to another former girlfriend, according to sources.
His record includes at least two other arrests dating back to 2016 involving allegations of false impersonation and marijuana possession.
The final moments before Tuesday’s tragedy were heard by residents inside the 18-story building at 2550 Olinville Avenue. Tenant Robin Mendzies recalled hearing a man’s voice cutting through the building, followed by the sickening sound of the fall.
‘Jump!’ the male voice allegedly shouted, Mendzies said. Then came a huge thud, followed by the horrific sound of a woman crying, ‘No please, no!’
The arrest has also brought renewed attention to Carrasco’s alleged history of violence involving Ramirez
A memorial decorated with candles and flowers for the slain mother was constructed outside the apartment building Wednesday
‘It sounded like she was begging for an inevitable thing not to happen,’ Mendzies recalled.
A tiny diaper and baby onesie lay strewn near the scene.
Police officers and emergency workers crowded the area as the tragedy unfolded, while residents looked on.
By Wednesday, the frantic activity had given way to a makeshift memorial for Ramirez. Candles flickered outside the building beside arrays of bouquets and a photograph of the young mother. An ‘October is Domestic Violence Month’ poster stood among the tributes, adding another poignant layer to the gathering.
Friends remembered Ramirez as a young woman whose world revolved around her baby. Her high school friend Dominique Rosado described Ramirez to the Post as a devoted mother and suggested that even in the terrifying final moments of her life, her instinct was to protect her daughter.
‘In the last moment of her life, she was protecting her daughter,’ Rosado said. “That’s what it means to be a mother. She was a good mother.’
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