A Long Island man has been accused of knifing his wife and 2-year-old daughter to death at the family’s home — where their 5-year-old son was present during the slaughter.
Zanoor Jaffari, 31, pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder at his arraignment in First District Court in Central Islip Monday afternoon and was remanded without bail.
His wife, Misbah Batool, 33, and their toddler daughter, Iazia Zanoor, were found stabbed at the family’s six-bedroom home in Brentwood around 4:40 p.m. Sunday by responding cops, Suffolk County Police said.
Both victims were taken to South Shore University Hospital, where they died, police said.
Neighbors told News 12 Long Island that the family had just moved into the house on Jefferson Avenue, and police said they also had other relatives living there — including Jaffari’s mother who called the police to report the stabbing.
“The call was for a medical event for a person not breathing and the 911 caller was hysterical,” Suffolk County Police Chief of Detectives John Rowan said.
Prosecutors said Jaffari was found covered in his wife and daughter’s blood, according to CBS New York.
The couple’s other child, a 5-year-old boy, was not harmed during the attack, which Rowan described as an “unspeakable tragedy” during a press briefing Monday.
He is now in the temporary custody of relatives, the outlet reported.
Jaffari was initially hospitalized after cops said he showed signs of a possible overdose, before being held on the murder charges overnight at the Suffolk County Police Department’s Third Precinct in Bay Shore.
He did not make any statements as he was perp-walked out of the precinct, wearing a white Hazmat suit with his hands restrained behind his back, Monday ahead of his court appearance.
Suffolk County police were called to this home on Jefferson Avenue in Brentwood on Sunday and found a mother and her toddler daughter fatally stabbed. News12 Long Island
Misbah Batool, 33, and her daughter, Iazia Zanoor, 2, were taken to a hospital, where both died. News12 Long IslandInvestigators have not released a possible motive for the double homicide.
Cops had no prior calls for domestic violence at the family’s home, but prosecutors alleged Jaffari had a history of abusing his wife prior to their move to Long Island, CBS NY reported.
“He loved his wife, interacted always with children in sincere and fatherly fashion and, in essence, the events, themselves, are somewhat inexplicable,” defense attorney Lawrence Carra insisted.
“This is an unspeakable tragedy and we ask you keep your thoughts and prayers with family of our victims,” Rowan added.
