Queens man killed in home invasion in front of mother; debts eyed as motive

Mother of stabbing victim Thomas Shanis leaves her apartment with police after the deadly home invasion
















A Queens man was stabbed to death Tuesday by two armed men who barged into his apartment and tied him up - along with his elderly mother, police sources said.

Thomas Shanis, 32, died of several stab wounds to the back. He owed someone money, his mother told police following the harrowing home-invasion murder, police sources said.

Zelda Shanis, who has gray hair and uses a walker, was not injured in the attack, police said.

The intruders, clad in black and armed with knives and guns, burst into the sixth-floor apartment on Ash Ave. about 10 a.m., police said. One of them wore a mask.

They bound Shanis and his mother with tape, and then murdered him, the sources said. They fled with a black duffel bag, and are still at large.

Zelda Shanis made a frantic 911 call about 11:30 a.m., telling police her son was bleeding heavily from his many wounds, the sources said. By the time emergency responders arrived, Thomas Shanis was dead.

It was unclear if the killers freed her before they fled or if she managed to place the call while still bound.

NYPD detectives interviewed Zelda Shanis inside of the apartment for most of the day before leading her into a police car about 4 p.m.

Police did not reveal a motive for the crime, and could not provide a description of the two men.

The apartment is in an old, six-story building in which guests are buzzed in. It does not have a doorman. Cops were checking if surveillance cameras from nearby buildings captured footage of the suspects.

Several neighbors refused to say much about Thomas Shanis other than to say he would often walk his dog, a shepherd mix, in a nearby park.

"You could see he was a humble person," said Luis Quizhpi, 18, a friend who lives nearby. "He wouldn't harm a fly."