East Harlem Ex Indicted For Mom's Murder While Kids Were Home: DA

HARLEM, NY — The man accused of killing a young mom in her East Harlem home, then holding her children hostage when cops came running, was indicted Monday, prosecutors announced.

Carmelo Castillo, 36, faces a murder charge for the death of Marisol Duran, 32, who died in her home on East 112th Street and Lexington Avenue the morning of April 15, according to the Manhattan District Attorney's office.

“I am deeply saddened by the death of Ms. Duran, and for her three children who are now without their mother,” said District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

“These utterly horrific allegations demonstrate how quickly intimate-partner violence can turn fatal – particularly when there is a gun in the home."

Duran died trying to get Castillo out of her family's home, prosecutors said.

When the mom said she didn't want to be with Castillo anymore, he reached for a gun and used a pillow to muffle the sound of its shot, prosecutors contend.

Castillo refused to let in cops who rushed to the apartment — where Duran's three children remained — until he finally let the eldest open the door, said prosecutors.

The East Harlem man also faces three counts of child endangerment, according to the District Attorney's office.

New Yorkers who need help can call the District Attorney's Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Bureau at (212) 335-4308.

The National Domestic Violence hotline number is (800) 799-7233 and services are provided in English, Spanish and 200 other languages.