Sabina Rosas, Brooklyn artist identified as woman murdered in Shou Suga Ban’s Water Mill home

Sabina Rosas, whose body was found on Monday at the Water Mill spa, she was remembered as a multi-talented artist and photographer who, after spending her childhood in Central Asia, came to New York.

Rosas, 33, of Brooklyn, whose death is being investigated by Suffolk police as a homicide, also used the name Sabina Khorramdel. According to Phillips, after returning from her international trip, she planned to visit her former Buy College art professor, Liz Phillips, in Queens last weekend. But she never showed up.

She said that at 3:14 a.m. EST on Saturday, Rosas texted her saying she was coming to New York. But at 6:50 p.m. on Saturday, she texted back, “23-hour flight – too exhausted to talk,” and they arranged to meet on Monday instead.

Phillips said she only learned of Rosas’ death on Tuesday from a Manhattan nonprofit arts organization where she recommended Rosas for a residency.

“I want to know what happened, but I’m not sure I want to know. I have no idea who she was with the last few days,” Phillips said, adding that Rosas traveled frequently and loved going to spas. “I’m terrified. She was so talented at so many things, so ambitious and able to get her life in order. It’s a terrible thing when a beautiful, talented young artist loses her life like this.”

Family friend Ryder Iwata, who said he was representing the family, announced her death, calling her “our beloved daughter, sister, fiancée and friend.”

“As the oldest of three daughters, Sabina brought excitement, adventure, joy and love to our family,” we read in the statement. “We are calling on anyone with information about the circumstances of Sabina’s death to come forward.”

Phillips said she mentored Rosas while she was a student at Buy College for two years, starting in 2018.

“She was very talented in her sculptures and paintings and had a great sense of style and aesthetic,” Phillips said. “She brought so much life to the classroom as a student. She was funny, energetic and always doing something. She was a really great person when it came to classes.”

Police say Rosas was the victim of a homicide, but the cause of death will not be determined pending an autopsy by the Suffolk Medical Examiner’s Office. No arrests have been made.

Police said an employee of the spa, Shou Sugi Ban House in Water Mill, discovered the body of Rosas, who was an overnight guest.

Rosas was born in Tajikistan in 1991 and later moved with her family to Turkmenistan in 1993 and Crimea in 2000, according to an online biography on the nonprofit arts organization’s website.

In 2003, she returned to Tajikistan, where she graduated from high school and attended Tajikistan University of Technology, then moved to the United States in 2009 and to Forest Hills in 2010. She later moved to Westchester to attend Buy College.

The purchase confirmed that Rosas graduated there in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in new media.

Rosas co-founded an artist website called Ruyo Journal with her sister in Germany. She is also a co-producer of the film Hafta about the extinction of flora, fauna and family in Kazakhstan. Phillips said Rosas is currently working on profiles of Central Asian women.

Jackson Heights artist Nitin Mukul said in an email that he briefly collaborated with Rosas, whom he called Khorramdel, on a multimedia art project they organized on a plaza in Queens in 2021. The project was called “EMERGE” and featured Mukul’s durational painting , which is a combination of video and painting using a sheet of ice, with the sound of Rosas.

Just last month, she was at the University of Central Asia, where she gave a presentation on an art platform dedicated to the discourse on Central Asian art and films.

The police investigation, which began Monday afternoon at the spa-style resort, continued until Tuesday morning when detectives returned.

The spa did not respond to Newsday’s requests for comment.

Suffolk detectives are asking anyone with information about the death to call the homicide unit at 631-852-6392 or Crime Stoppers at 800-220-TIPS. According to the police, all conversations will be treated as confidential.