Editor’s note: The video above aired on Oct. 24, 2025.
LONG ISLAND, N.Y. (PIX11) — A mother of three was killed by cyanide poisoning minutes after dropping two of her kids off at school, according to the Nassau County District Attorney.
Officials said 46-year-old Aleena Asif had just returned to her Herricks home after taking two of her kids, 14 and 7, to school on the morning of Oct. 17, 2025, when her estranged husband allegedly poisoned her with cyanide.
Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said 53-year-old Asif Qureshi had snuck into the home while Asif and her kids left the house just before 8 a.m. and waited for her to return.
Asif returned home with her young daughter while Qureshi was hiding inside before leaving again to take the 7-year-old to school just before 9 a.m., officials said. She returned alone a short time later.
Officials said surveillance footage showed Qureshi exiting the house over an hour later.
That afternoon, Asif’s 18-year-old daughter received a phone call from her younger sister’s school, informing her that her mother had not picked up her younger sister.
After the 18-year-old called police, officials found Asif dead in her bedroom with red facial burns around her mouth, according to officials. The Medical Examiner’s Office later determined she died from inhalation of cyanide.
Days later, Qureshi was arrested in Bellerose after police searched his home, where the clothes he was allegedly wearing the day of Asif’s death were found.
On Thursday, Qureshi was indicted on multiple counts of murder. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years to life in prison, according to officials.
Qureshi is due back in court in February.