Sister of Denise Morgan, Irish woman killed in NY murder-suicide, warns of abusive relationships

The sisters of Denise Morgan, the Co Louth woman killed in an apparent murder-suicide in home in New York last month, have warned of the dangers of abusive relationships.

On October 21st, Ms Morgan, originally from Tullyallen near Drogheda, died from a gunshot wound at her home in Queens. Joed Taveras, Ms Morgan’s former partner, was also found dead at the property with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. New York police were treating Ms Morgan’s death as a homicide.

“He shot her in the back of the head,” Lisa Morgan said, speaking to RTÉ's Prime Time. “She tried to run away from him.

“There was fighting and then there was the gunshot. And 10 seconds later, there was a second gunshot.”

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Ms Morgan was in the process of moving out of a property she shared with Mr Taveras before she was killed. The couple had broken up some time earlier.

Lisa and Shannon Morgan detailed a pattern of abusive behaviour in Ms Morgan’s relationship with Mr Taveras, noting that they “always knew” he was a “very jealous person”. On one occasion, Ms Morgan awoke to Mr Taveras trying to choke her, they said.

“We knew she was in a bad situation, and she kept telling us, ‘no, it’s okay. I’m gonna be moving out, don’t worry.’ But like, she always told us. And that’s the guilt that’s gonna live with us forever as knowing what could have been,” Shannon said.

Mr Taveras was controlling of Ms Morgan too, her sisters said, not allowing her to wear certain clothes, or talk to other men.

[ Denise Morgan remembered as ‘lovely, bubbly, polite person’ at Louth funeral ]

[ ‘Everyone’s just numb’: former workmates pay tribute to Irish woman Denise Morgan killed in suspected murder-suicide in New York ]

“Sometimes as women, we tend to ignore this behaviour, the jealousy, the control,” Shannon said.

“We are speaking as Denise’s voice, just to try and raise awareness against domestic violence. If you’re noticing any of these kind of things that we mention, you just need to get out of that situation,” Lisa said.

Lisa said that Ms Morgan’s death, in some ways, has not yet registered with their family.

“I don’t think it’s registered with us, I don’t think we’ve come to terms with it,” she said.

“She was very loving, very friendly. She’d do anything for anybody. Always had a smile on her face. Always went for the underdog, you know, she’d always try and help people along the way. Even if she was having a rough day or whatever, she’d still always try to help them out.”