At 11:42 p.m. on Sept. 7, medical responders discovered Julie Swoszowski, 31, on the living room floor of her ex-boyfriend’s house at 65 Village Circle; she was bleeding profusely from her neck and throat and was struggling to breathe. An ambulance transported her to Waterbury Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Police found Julie Swoszowski's car smashed into the garage of her ex-boyfriend's home at 65 Village Circle, where they also discovered the 31-year-old woman bleeding from stab wounds. Swoszowski died from her injuries. The Office of the Chief Medical examiner confirmed Friday that her death was a suicide.

In a statement released the next day, the Naugatuck Police Department said a preliminary investigation by its detective division and the State Police Major Crime unit indicated “the stab wounds may have been self-inflicted.” Police also found Swoszowski’s Volkswagon Jetta smashed into the garage of the home, which is owned by Paul Ayoub, 47.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, which said initially it could take as many as 12 weeks to determine whether Swoszowski’s death was a suicide, confirmed to Citizen’s News Friday that it was. NPD spokesman Lt. Robert Harrison was not on duty Friday, and a phone message left with a detective was not immediately returned.

Swoszowski was a 1996 graduate of Wolcott High School and earned two bachelor of science degrees from Teikyo Post University, one in 2001 and another in 2003. According to her father, John Swoszowski, she was supposed to start class Sept. 8 at Southern Connecticut State University, where she was working toward a master’s degree in speech pathology.

Julie Swoszowski was active in the field of holistic medicine. Her family said she was certified as an energy instructor, reflexologist and Chinese herbologist; she was also a reiki and shamballa master teacher, a trained meridian therapy practitioner, and an aroma therapist.

A friend who used to work with Sowszowski at CT Safe Home described her as “sweet,” and said, “She loved children. She was really into holistic health and was just a really positive person.”

Ayoub, an accredited holistic health counselor, called Swoszowski “a very spiritual person” and added, “She’s with the angels, for sure.”

“We’re doing all sorts of prayer ceremonies to try to release her spirit,” he said.

The former resident of that unit, 69-year-old Italia Liguori, was plucked from the vine before her rightful time when she was killed last week.

The Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner reported that Liguori died of blunt force head trauma and asphyxiation; the evidence suggests she was beaten and choked to death in the Oct. 1 incident.

Police have a warrant that is yet to be served for an unnamed relative who they say lived in the condo with Ligouri. The Republican-American has reported that friends and neighbors said 17-year-old Angelina Jamele, Liguori’s granddaughter, was the only person living in the condo with her.

Police have not released additional information or officially named Jamelet, but they have said the suspect is  being held in a secure Department of Children and Families facility until cleared for a court appearance.

Neighbors and friends said Jamele has struggled with drug addiction and that she and Liguori often argued to a degree that necessitated police intervention.

The killing comes in the wake of last month’s suicide by Wolcott resident Julie Swoszowski in the borough and the brutal murder of medical student Annie Le on the campus of Yale University in New Haven. There was also a shot fired in Lantern Park last month, but no one was hurt in that episode.

The majority of Lantern Park and Pondside residents interviewed, however, didn’t feel that Liguori’s killing was a sign of an overarching pattern—they felt it was an isolated incident.

“It’s quiet here,” said Kristi Serrano of building 66.

Adam Mastronunzio, who said he knows Jamele, echoed this sentiment, adding “Once in a while we get those crazy people that move in—and that’s when stuff [such as the killing] happens.”

Mastronunzio confirmed that Jamele had been mixed up in drug abuse.

Delilah Scott, who lives across from building 88 with her bedridden mother, said she still feels safe in the complex, too. She’s never seen violence in the streets or any indication of major crime in the area.

Jamele is just “one teenager gone bad,” she said, and not a microcosm of the community at large.

Scott even said the incident created a sense of unity among residents, who stood outside last Thursday to watch as police cruisers and news crews swarmed the area.

One resident, Sandra Lopes of 88-7 Lantern Park Drive, two doors down from Liguori’s unit, feels differently.

“I don’t feel very safe here,” she said. “There are a lot of things around here that are not too good … I really don’t like it—especially for my kids.”

The mother of two cited drug use as her biggest qualm about the neighborhood.

Police responded to 65 Village Circle at 11:42 p.m. and found a vehicle smashed into the garage. Inside, they discovered a woman, indentified as Julie Swoszowski of Wolcott, lying on the living-room floor with stab wounds to her throat and chest.

The Naugatuck Police Department’s Detective Division and the State Police Major Crime unit are conducting an untimely death investigation. According to an NPD statement, their initial investigation indicates the stab wounds may have been self-inflicted, though Swoszowski’s death has not been ruled a suicide.

The owner of the home is Paul Ayoub, 47, an accredited holistic health counselor featured on the cover of last week’s Citizen’s News. NPD Lt. Todd Brouillette said Ayoub went voluntarily to police headquarters to answer questions and has been cooperative with investigators.

Police said the investigation is ongoing and that the state medical examiner’s office will conduct an autopsy.