A prominent New York City cancer doctor shot her young child before turning the gun on herself, police said Saturday.
Few details were immediately provided by investigators probing the deaths of Dr. Krystal Cascetta, 40, and her infant. The New York State Police said in a press release that the scene at the family’s home in Westchester County was “consistent with a murder/suicide.”
A preliminary investigation had revealed that Cascetta, whom state police characterized as a “renowned” oncologist at Mount Sinai, entered her baby’s room at around 7 a.m. on Saturday. The doctor shot the child before shooting herself, state police said.
On Sunday, law enforcement sources told the Westchester Journal News/Lohud that the baby was a girl and Cascetta’s only child. An online gift registry found by the newspaper appeared to indicate that the infant had been approximately four and a half months old.
Cascetta’s parents were home at the time of the tragedy, while her husband was away, the sources said.
A neighbor told the New York Post that “ambulances and police” had, in recent months, been called to the family’s home at least two times prior to Saturday. The reason for the response was not immediately clear.
Cascetta was the site chief of Mount Sinai’s infusion center in Queens, and had been an assistant professor of medicine at the hospital’s private medical school. She was an “active investigator of breast cancer clinical trials,” according to an official bio.
The 40-year-old graduated from Albany Medical College, where she was inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society for “demonstrating excellence in humanistic clinical care, leadership, compassion and dedication to service,” the bio states.
Several former patients took to social media over the weekend to memorialize her, praising her work ethic and empathy. “A shocking & terrible tragedy,” wrote Kambri Crews, a public speaker and memoirist. “She was a star in her field, dedicated and lovely, whip smart and a competitive athlete.”
