Medical examiner confirms couples’ death in Brooklyn apartment was murder-suicide

An autopsy has officially determined that a Brooklyn woman was shot to death by a man believed to be her new boyfriend before he turned the gun on himself, according to the city medical examiner.

Luz Maribel Espinal, 43, was killed by the man in her apartment on Logan St. near Etna St. in Cypress Hills, officials said. On Wednesday, cops for the first time named him as Rafael Ramos, 40.

Espinal’s son made the grisly discovery Feb. 16 around 4:45 p.m. after not hearing all day from his mother, who was involved in planning her grandson’s 1st birthday party scheduled for the next day.

“I was trying all day to get in touch with her,” her son, Pablo Espinal, previously told the Daily News. “At first I figured she was sleeping. It wasn’t until later in the afternoon, and she still wasn’t answering — this is where I started to get a little concerned.”

After Espinal called 911 and requested police conduct a wellness check on his mother, he headed to her apartment, where he found his mother’s body with gunshot wounds to the head and torso.

Next to her was Ramos, dead after suffering a gunshot wound to the head.

Luz Maribel Espinal never told her son about the relationship, but neighbors told the News after the deaths that Ramos was a new, “antisocial” boyfriend the woman started dating in December.

“After she met this guy, she changed a lot,” said the woman’s superintendent Santos Araujo. “She used to play music a lot. After December, we noticed she doesn’t play music. It’s weird.”

Ramos’ last known address is in Hyde Park, Mass., cops said.