Queens man faces charges in city’s first homicide

Police have arrested a Queens man for the murder of his young girlfriend — the city’s first homicide in 2016 — who was found face down on her bed inside her apartment.

Fabian Maliza, 24, is being charged with second-degree murder and as of Wednesday morning was awaiting arraignment in Queens.

According to authorities, on Jan. 1 police discovered 19-year-old Joceline Romo unconscious and unresponsive lying face down on her bed inside her Woodhaven, Queens home.

Although initial reports said Romo was found with no apparent trauma, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office later said Romo died of “homicidal violence including blunt force trauma of the head and compression of the neck.”

Police picked up Maliza — who had a slash on his wrist — and transported him to Jamaica Hospital for psychiatric evaluation, the New York Post reported.