While family and friends wiped away tears and mourned the loss of Tina Adovasio at her , her estranged husband was noticeably absent. Edwin Coello, former NYPD cop, was arrested in connection to her death by New York City police in the Bronx today.
Coello was picked up by police on Tuesday at relative's house at 2:30 p.m., his attorney Renee Hill said. He is charged with second-degree murder, a spokesperson for the Deputy Commissioner's Office said this evening.
Hill told Patch she will defend the man, who is expected to be arraigned in court Wednesday afternoon. As part of a formal procedure, she said, he will enter a not guilty plea.
Adovasio, 40, was in a heavily-wooded area off the Taconic State Parkway in Yorktown near Baldwin Road Wednesday night, five days after she went missing on March 11.
Her husband reported her missing after an argument, police said. Although he was cooperating with authorities initially, Coello hired two lawyers, refused to have his car searched and provide a DNA sample after his wife's body was found. Last week, he was named a "person of interest."
Coello has a history of domestic violence and according to the District Attorney's Office in the Bronx, he was arrested on Feb. 27, 2006 and charged with second-degree harassment against his wife, Tina Adovasio. Law enforcement authorities said he had reportedly been seen carrying a large duffle bag the day after Adovasio's disappearance.
A family member, who did not wish to be identified, said Coello was not allowed to attend Adovasio's wake, funeral or burial.
Adovasio lived in the Bronx and worked as a nurse in the Maternity Department of New Rochelle's . She and Coello have a 5-year-old daughter, and Adovasio has three other children from a previous marriage.
She leaves behind her four children, parents, two brothers, cousins, aunts and uncles who all attended her funeral today along with her ex-husband and friends of the children.
Editor's Note: This article has been updated since its original publication to include what Coello was charged with as that information became available, and also to include a comment from Coello's attorney.
