Police are investigating the deaths of Andrea Cantarini and Juan Cornelio Diaz as an apparent murder-suicide after a domestic dispute.
NEW YORK — A Bronx nurse and her boyfriend, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer, were found fatally shot inside a Riverdale apartment Tuesday night, and police sources said investigators believe the man killed the woman before dying by suicide.
Andrea Cantarini, 37, and Juan Cornelio Diaz, 38, were found shortly after 9 p.m. Nov. 3 at an apartment on Blackstone Avenue, according to police and published reports. Both had suffered gunshot wounds to the head and were pronounced dead at the scene. A firearm was recovered, and no arrests had been made as investigators continued examining what happened inside the apartment.
Police sources described the case as an apparent murder-suicide stemming from a domestic dispute. Investigators believe Diaz shot Cantarini and then himself, according to multiple reports citing law enforcement sources. The New York Police Department had not publicly released a full account of the events leading to the shootings, and the investigation remained open.
Diaz worked for U.S. Customs and Border Protection and was assigned to John F. Kennedy International Airport, according to the agency and published reports. Customs and Border Protection said it was aware of the apparent murder-suicide involving an officer from its New York Field Office and was cooperating with the NYPD investigation.
Cantarini worked as a nurse and was the mother of a 6-year-old daughter she shared with Diaz, neighbors and relatives told news organizations. Neighbors said the child was not inside the apartment when the shootings occurred. Diaz also had a son from an earlier relationship, according to a neighbor interviewed after the deaths.
People who knew the couple in the Riverdale apartment complex described them as friendly and said their deaths came as a shock. One neighbor told News 12 that the couple had recently moved within the complex to a larger apartment. Other neighbors reported hearing arguing around the time of the incident and said Cantarini had appeared distressed in recent days.
The police response began after Cantarini’s father contacted authorities while his daughter was in danger, according to law enforcement sources and subsequent interviews. Officers from the 50th Precinct went to the Blackstone Avenue building and found the couple inside the apartment. Emergency medical workers pronounced both dead at the scene.
The deaths remained under investigation Thursday. Police had not announced criminal charges or released a final investigative finding, and authorities had not provided a complete public timeline of the dispute that preceded the shootings.
Author note: Last updated November 5, 2026.