Boyfriend Charged with Murder After Queens Mother Found Shot in Shallow Grave

Seraphina Pereira, 35, a mother of three young children who lived at the Ocean Bay Apartments in Far Rockaway, Queens, was found buried in a shallow grave at Rockaway Community Park near Beach 58th Street on October 27, 2026. The medical examiner determined she had been shot once in the head. Her boyfriend, Rogelio Lozano-Garita, 26, of Queens, was arrested and charged with murder, criminal possession of a weapon, concealment of a human corpse, and tampering with physical evidence. Pereira had been reported missing approximately one week before her body was discovered. Police conducted a major search of the apartment complex and located the suspect nearby. She leaves behind three young children. A neighbour described the impact: 'She got three kids. It's real sad. Nobody deserves that.' The arrest came after an intensive investigation by Queens detectives, and the case has deeply shaken the Far Rockaway community.