A teenage boy made a horrifying discovery when he found his mother dead with her throat slit in their Brooklyn home.Maria Santos Flores, 36, was found with a deep wound to her neck at her residence on 85th Street near 4th Avenue in Bay Ridge.His son and his sister Angelica Flores discovered the body. “I came to visit him and found him like this,” the sister told The New York Post, speaking outside the home as relatives gathered in shock and mourning. “She just came home from work.”Another sister, Daisy Flores, said the family originally came from El Salvador. He described Maria as a caring person who worked hard to support her family. “She loved helping people and took care of her family,” she said. “We don’t understand what happened.”Flores worked as a bartender at Huatulco Sports Bar in Sunset Park and often worked the night shift. Family members believe he may have been followed home after work.“The police are still not telling us what happened,” said her husband, Antonio Hernandez. “We are waiting. We don’t know anything. It is suspected that someone followed him while coming home from work.”He told that his two children aged 3 and 17 years were at home at the time of the incident. “When I took the car to work this morning, she hadn’t arrived yet,” he said, explaining that he left for work around 7:30 a.m.Outside the home, NYPD officers placed yellow evidence markers on items found on the sidewalk, including a blood-stained tissue. Evidence bags were also removed from the property.Murders in New York have fallen 23% so far this year compared to the same period in 2025, city data shows.At the bar where she worked, co-workers and customers struggled to process the news. When an employee learned she was Salvadoran, she started crying and asking, “Eli?” Adding, “We knew her as Ellie Flores? She lived on 86th Street?”Bar owner Felipe Ortega described her as a dedicated worker who rarely missed a shift. “He never missed a day of work. Not a single day,” he said.“She was very responsible for her work. Reliable. Kind.”He said the tragedy felt personal to the staff. “Every year, at the end of the year, we celebrate,” he said. “And we invite everyone. She has been working here for almost 3 years.”Colleagues also remembered him. “She was very sweet,” said bouncer Papo Vazquez. Another bouncer, Nigel Kelly, said: “She was a lovely girl. I can’t believe this happened.”