Shooting Victim Was A Kind, Hard-Working Woman

A student at Hillsborough Community College in Florida, 28-year-old Ariel Cortez Alaya was looking forward to surprising his mother with a visit to her Hempstead home on Mother's Day.

But this past Sunday, Ariel got a surprise of his own — a phone call from police, informing him that his 62-year-old mother, El Salvador native Maria Angelina Ayala, was . She had been shot in the head.

"Now I'm coming up just to bring flowers," he said, "and to send her back to El Salvador for burial."

Ariel said he can't imagine why anyone would want to hurt his mother, a kind and selfless woman who put her family and work above all. Indeed, it was because of her desire to make a better life for herself and her family that she left her native El Salvador in the late 1980s, seeking refuge from the guerillas in the country.

"A respectful woman who always minded her own business and never bothered anyone — her family and job were her life," Ariel said. "Victimized to the hands of a cold-blooded animal has taken her family and friends by surprise."

In America, she found a job as a housekeeper at the Capri Motor Inn in West Hempstead, N.Y., where she was employed for some 17 years. She also worked some additional housekeeping jobs on the side, and used the money to help put Ariel through college.

Ayala leaves behind two children, including Ariel, and three grandchildren.

Nassau police are leading the investigation, and have not yet reported any leads on a subject or the motivation for the crime.

Lynbrook Patch will continue to provide updates on this story.