Maggie Rosales, an 18-year-old high school student from Long Island, was found stabbed to death over the weekend in Huntington Station, a community that law enforcement officials say is becoming all too familiar with such occurrences.
A pedestrian discovered Rosales' body on Lynch Street in Huntington Station, New York, around 11:25 p.m. Sunday,
Suffolk County police told WCBS-TV.
The teen has been stabbed in the torso and was pronounced dead at the scene by the Suffolk County Medical Examiner. The circumstances behind the murder were not immediately reported but detectives are investigating.
Rosales' father, Cesar Rosales, told Newsday Monday that he was still in shock over the death of his daughter and has no idea why anyone would want to harm her.
"The only thing I could say about my daughter is that she was very social," he said. "She's never had problems with anyone . . . It hurts my heart. We wanted her to develop and grow up just like any . . . [parent] would. I can't believe it."
Rosales was a senior at Walt Whitman High School, where South Huntington superintendent David Bennardo and high school principal Kathleen Acker called her death a "tragic passing"
in a joint statement on the school's website.
"The thoughts and prayers of our school district community remain with her family during this incredibly difficult time," the statement read. "Our high school team is prepared with grief counselors and will be on hand tomorrow to assist students, staff, and parents who might be in need."
Residents in Huntington Station told WCBS that they are no longer stunned by the violence in the community.
"It's not surprising anymore," one man told WCBS-AM 880 Long Island bureau chief Mike Xirinachs, according to WCBS-TV. "It's not. It's every other week, every other month, there's a shooting, there's major crime."
Another resident said she was concerned about the growing drug problem and gang problem that could be fueling the violence.
"It's pretty much business as usual here," she said. "Every week, you'll see there's something else going on, either a killing, a shooting, a stabbing, something. But it's pretty much standard procedure."