Family and friends remember woman allegedly stabbed to death by boyfriend in Bushwick apartment
Loved ones released balloons outside 276 Cooper St. in honor of Eryka Caldwell.
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Family and friends gathered in Bushwick on Wednesday to remember 41-year-old Eryka Caldwell, who police say was stabbed to death inside her apartment.
Loved ones released balloons outside 276 Cooper St.
“Just in shock,” said Caldwell's childhood friend, Amber Ashmore. “Disbelief. Like, there's no way that I just spoke with her Saturday night on FaceTime."
Caldwell's sister, Contessa Clark, says she was supposed to come from Indiana next week to visit her. Instead, she came to Brooklyn to plan her funeral.
“This is probably the worst news that I’ve gotten,” Clark said. “Eryka was just more than a sister to me.”
Police say Caldwell was found Sunday morning inside her apartment, lying in a pool of blood with multiple stab wounds.
“Just to hear it like the brutality of it all,” Caldwell's childhood friend, Anthony Crawford, said through tears.
Investigators arrested 38-year-old Jonathan Fernandez.
Family and friends say Fernandez was Caldwell’s on-and-off boyfriend. They say the relationship had become dangerous.
“There were big red flags,” said Caldwell’s friend Clarente Fisher.
Fisher says Caldwell had called police on Fernandez several times.
“I know four times for sure,” Fisher said. “One day she ran from him from her apartment and was in the car, like going down the wrong lane. The police had to pull her over and she’s telling the police, I’m running from my boyfriend.”
Family and friends claim Fernandez broke into Caldwell’s apartment by climbing through her bedroom window and pushing out her air conditioner.
“She was trying to get away,” Fisher said. “Thursday is when they had an altercation and she put him out.”
Caldwell was a waitress in Coney Island, an event planner and a proud member of the LGBTQ community.
“A lot of the lives that's been taken has been trans and from their boyfriends in a domestic violence situation,” Fisher said.
Friends say they hope her story encourages others in dangerous relationships to get help.
“Hopefully her story will let them know that you can go get the help that you need to try to get out of that situation,” Clark said.
Fernandez remains in custody and is expected back in court on Friday.
