Denise Morgan, the Irish woman who was killed in an apparent murder-suicide in Queens, New York City on October 21, is set to be repatriated to her native Ireland tomorrow, October 31.
Denise's family will be "bringing her home" to Ireland on Tuesday, Rev Richard Conlon said during the livestreamed memorial Mass which was he at St. Teresa Roman Catholic Church in Woodside, Queens on Sunday.
In attendance at Sunday’s service was Denise’s nine-year-old daughter Mollie whom she shared with her ex-husband Larry Zaitschek. According to the Irish Examiner, Denise and Larry had “amicably” separated.
Also in attendance on Sunday were Denise's parents and sisters who traveled from Ireland.
Addressing the congregation on Sunday, Rev. Richard Conlon said: "We celebrate her life and all the many ways she touched the people of this world and the world that she left in Ireland.”
Rev Conlon said Denise’s death is “extremely senseless and extremely difficult” and that it “makes no sense.”
The Irish American priest said Denise, 39, was “in the prime of her life” and that she was “obviously well-loved.”
Conlon drew some laughs when he attempted to pronounce Denise’s hometown of Tullyallen in Drogheda, Co Louth. “I’m blowing it, man,” he acknowledged, adding that his mother was from the north of Ireland in Co Down, which he said has “a lot easier pronunciation.”
“The people over there [in Denise’s hometown] are shocked by all of this,” Rev Conlon continued, before noting that a funeral for Denise, arrangements of which have not yet been released, will be held in Ireland.
“So we’re mourning on both sides of the Atlantic," he said.
Indeed, the transatlantic mourning has been evidenced across three GoFundMe pages that have been launched to support Denise's family after the apparent murder-suicide.
The first GoFundMe has closed after hitting its target three times, ending with a total of £31,201. Two other US-based GoFundMe pages - 'In memory of Denise Morgan' and the 'Denise Morgan Fund' - remain active and have been endorsed by Denise's sister.
A spokesperson for the NYPD confirmed to IrishCentral that just before 3 am on Saturday, October 21, police responded to a 911 call of shots fired / persons inside at a residence in the Glendale section of Queens in the confines of the 104 Precinct.
Upon arrival, officers observed two persons - later confirmed as Denise Zaitschek (née Morgan) and Joed Taveras - unconscious and unresponsive with gunshot wounds to their heads, within the second-floor living room area of the residence.
EMS responded to the location and pronounced the 39-year-old female and the 33-year-old male deceased at the scene.
A firearm was recovered in the vicinity of the deceased male.
An NYPD source later told the New York Post that Denise and Joed were apparently boyfriend and girlfriend and lived together in the apartment.
The New York Daily News reported that Denise had dropped her daughter Mollie off at her ex-husband's home the night before her death. Denise's friends and colleagues said that the Irish woman planned to leave her boyfriend and that her living situation was not good.
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