Paroled killer is charged in Bx. mom slay

A convicted killer out on parole is accused of murdering a Bronx mom in a slaying that left her two terrified children to fend for themselves for more than a day until help arrived.

Asun Thomas, 46, surrendered to police at about 2 p.m. Tuesday, a day after his photo was released to the media. Thomas (inset) is accused of strangling Luz Perez, 40, in her Belmont apartment in October.

Thomas was paroled in 2016 after serving about 16 years of a 20-year prison sentence for a 2000 manslaughter conviction in the Bronx. The details of that earlier slaying weren’t immediately available, but police sources said Thomas has a history of violence against women.

Investigators were still trying to determine how, or if, Thomas knew Perez before he killed her, sources said.

Cops learned about Perez’s death Oct. 13, after someone spotted her 5year-old son screaming for help through the window of her first-floor apartment on E. 187th St. near Bathgate Ave. in Belmont.

The boy and his 2-yearold sister were stuck alone in the apartment for more than 24 hours after they found their mother dead on her bed. They ate peanut butter sandwiches before summoning help.

The little boy tried to call 911 shortly after his mom’s killing, but was unable to give police an address. The next day, he squeezed through security bars to unlatch a front window, and screamed for help.

Police sources said cops initially believed Perez was stabbed with a screwdriver. Her death was eventually ruled a homicide by strangulation.

Thomas told police he lived on Porter Ave. in Bushwick, Brooklyn, at the Peter J. Sharp Center for Opportunity — a transitional housing center run by the Doe Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting the homeless.

He’s charged with murder, and awaits arraignment in Bronx Criminal Court.