The woman found dead inside a home on Lexington Avenue was a devout Catholic with a good heart, a friend of the victim said.
JERSEY CITY -- The woman found dead inside a home on Lexington Avenue was a devout Catholic with a good heart, a friend of the victim said.
At about 10:30 a.m., police responded to 64A Lexington Ave. on reports of a woman found laying on the floor with "knives all around her," according to a police transmission.
Clotilda Beltran, a woman praying at the scene this afternoon, said she and the victim, believed to be in her 80s, have been friends for more than 15 years.
"She was a wonderful religious person," Beltran said of her friend, who attended St. Aloysius Church on West Side Avenue. "We lost a good person, there's no words to say."
Officials have not yet released the woman's identity.
This morning, Gene Rubino, Acting Chief of Detectives for the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office, said the department was investigating a "suspicious death."
Homicide detectives have been canvassing the neighborhood all afternoon, though Rubino has not responded to comment on whether the death is in fact a homicide.
Beltran said she and the women praying at the scene heard about what happened while at church this morning. When she heard the news, she fell to her knees and began to cry.
"She's my sister in Christ, she's everyone's sister in Christ, she's a wonderful lady," Beltran said. "We're always together, like Jesus said, like God say, we should be together especially in things like this."
Beltran said it was important to come out and show their support for the family during this tough time.
Earlier this afternoon, a neighbor described the woman as "very friendly."
The man, who declined to provide his name, said he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary last night, but this morning the victim did not answer her phone.
According to a radio transmission, a dispatcher said the woman was believed to be dead, and it appeared "someone had stabbed her to death."
Beltran said there are "no words to say" to describe the loss, except that her friend was always helping people.
"We lost a sister, we lost a mother, we lost a good friend and good human being, she was a wonderful person."
Residents in the neighborhood were stunned to see the blocked cornered off with crime scene tape.
"I don't know this family right here, but I lost a loved one," said a woman who identified herself at Ronald Witherspoon's aunt. "My heart is heavy."
Family at the scene this afternoon declined comment. No additional information has been provided by officials.