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Dung Tran Of Hempstead, L.I. Charged With Shooting Maria Ayala To Death

LYNBROOK, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Police have made an arrest in the killing of a Hempstead woman found shot in the head inside a car.

Nassau County police charged Dung Tran, 38, of Hempstead, with murder in the death of 62-year-old Maria Ayala. They also charged him as a fugitive from justice stemming from an open warrant in Virginia. They didn't elaborate.

A police officer discovered Ayala's body Sunday morning in the driver's seat of a Toyota Corolla on Merrick Road in Lynbrook.

Her son, Ariel Cortez of Tampa, Fla., told Newsday that she and Tran were romantically involved. He said the family was preparing to bring her body back to her native El Salvador for burial.

Cortez said she received political asylum in the United States in 1989.

Tran will be arraigned Tuesday.

(TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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