UWS dad in disbelief after son accused of killing fiancee, baby boys
The Upper West Side apartment on W. 86th St. was home to decades of good memories for the Lopez family — before turning into a nightmarish crime scene, according to the devastated family patriarch.
The father of Edison Lopez told the Daily News on Tuesday how his wife arrived at their son’s apartment to babysit their two grandkids around 9:30 a.m. one day earlier only to find her knocking went unanswered.
“My wife was supposed to take care of the little one,” said dad Mario Lopez, referring to 1-year-old Calvin. “She couldn’t get inside the apartment. She started texting. She started calling. Then she called me and I went there.”
The elder Lopez came over with his tools and poked out the lock before peering inside to see his daughter-in-law Aleksandra Witek, 40, lying dead inside the apartment.
Authorities arrived to find the bodies of Edison Lopez, 41, along with sons Calvin and 3-year-old Lucian in the apparent Monday murder-suicide. Paramedics pronounced all four victims dead at the scene.
“We were in touch with them almost every day,” said Mario Lopez of the son’s family. “That’s why, when my wife went, it was agreed upon the day before.”
The elder Lopez had worked in the same building as superintendent before his son took over the position, with the grandfather of two recalling Edison “grew up there” and then raised his own family inside the Upper West Side building.
The senior Lopez recounted there were no warning signs of any problems with his son or the family.
“If you saw their children, how they are, they’re very adjusted people,” said Mario Lopez. “You can tell when a couple is having problems because the kids act it out.”
Mario Lopez remained unconvinced his son was to blame for the carnage inside the apartment.
“They said it was a murder-suicide, which is not confirmed,” he said. “It’s a salad of confusion and lies … I was just looking through photos from last year, when (Aleksandra) was pregnant with the little one. And I can’t believe he would have done that, my son.”