Queens family lawyer found dead in Jackson Heights office

Police are investigating the death of Jackson Heights lawyer Charles Zolot, who was found in his office Thursday morning. Screenshot via Citizen App

By Rachel Vick

A divorce lawyer was found dead inside his Jackson Heights office Thursday morning.

Charles Zolot, 65, was found bruised and unconscious on the floor of the office at 37-06 82nd St. just before 6 a.m., according to the NYPD.

Police say they found Zolot with trauma to his torso and face.

The office building where Zolot worked is also occupied by a handful of other attorneys.

“It’s surprising. He was a good man,” Horacio Navas, 70, Zolot’s tailor, told the Daily News. “I don’t know why anyone would want to do this to him.”

Queens County Bar Association President Frank Bruno — who practices family law — recalled seeing Zolot in the halls of Family Court and only speaking in passing, but the most time spent was during an installation dinner.

“When I became president of the Queens Columbian Lawyers Association, he called and asked to sit with me at the table with my wife and mother-in-law; he had to entertain her and she had to entertain him,” Bruno said. “He was very nice and gracious.”

Though the circumstances of Zolot’s death are still unclear, Bruno said that it “really turns to the fact that attorneys get criticised and put upon as creators of this discord, where attorneys really try to solve problems and clients will blame the lawyer.”

Zolot graduated from Queens College with a degree in political science before attending Syracuse University College of Law.

The motivation behind the attack is still unknown and the investigation is ongoing.