Coleen Cesar Fields, beloved mother stabbed to death in Queens home, remembered as "a beautiful, happy soul"
NEW YORK -- We're learning more about the people who were fatally stabbed in their Queens home Tuesday morning.
David Daniel was arrested and charged with murder in the stabbing deaths of three people inside of his home, including his girlfriend.
His girlfriend's family told CBS New York she was a happy person full of life, and they can't understand why she's no longer here.
"This is a loss that... I don't know. I'll keep her in my heart," said Abiola Wilson, a longtime friend of the victim.
Holding back tears, Wilson told CBS New York she and Coleen Cesar Fields, 51, were more like sisters.
"Coleen was a beautiful, happy soul. We attend school in Guyana from small, and then we migrated to the U.S. We continue the friendship. We mostly like sisters," Wilson said.
She says Cesar Fields was a beloved mother and grandmother who worked as a medical technician at Memorial Sloan Kettering, and while she wore many hats, it's her laugh she'll miss the most.
"She have a laugh. When she laugh, this whole block would hear Coleen laugh," Wilson said.
Police say Daniel murdered Cesar Fields and two of his tenants Tuesday morning after an ongoing dispute over unpaid rent for several years. It happened inside his St. Albans home. Investigators say they were all stabbed to death.
Daniel has been charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
Investigators say after the stabbings, he walked into the local police precinct and told officers he did something bad.
"I knew they had problems with the tenants, but I'm still trying to find out how she got involved in that, why she's not here," Wilson said.
As detectives look into what led up to the deadly knife attacks and the landlord-tenant dispute, Cesar Fields' two daughters now have to bury their mother.
"She was just a happy soul," Wilson said.
The other two victims have been identified as 57-year-old Wayne Thomas and 55-year-old Evette Sweeney.
Daniel was arraigned Wednesday afternoon. He's being charged with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder. He's being held without bail.
