Ingrid Gonzalez, 34, was found dead of apparent head injuries in her home.

PROVIDENCE –– In the middle of December, the police say, Johnny Tineo beat up Ingrid Gonzalez and threw her into a wall so hard that she blacked out. When she came to, he warned her: If you call the police, I’ll kill you.

Seven months later, the police say, Tineo did just that.

Tineo, 35, was arrested in New York City on Sunday night, hours after the body of his girlfriend was discovered in the home they shared in the Silver Lake neighborhood, said Capt. James Desmarais. The police allege that Tineo murdered the 34-year-old mother of two while her older son slept in another room.

Gonzalez was killed one month after the police and U.S. marshals had arrested Tineo on a warrant for the December assault.

Despite being threatened, Gonzalez had called the police shortly after Tineo allegedly punched and choked her on Dec. 13. She told the police about his threat to kill her, according to a police report. An officer at the scene noted in his report bruises on her face and neck and cuts on her arm. A warrant was issued for Tineo’s arrest for domestic assault and stealing Gonzalez’s cell phone.

By early last month, the police had tracked Tineo down. They found him back with Gonzalez, living in their home on Union Avenue.

And that’s where Tineo returned to live after being released on bail, Desmarais said –– despite being ordered by the court not to contact Gonzalez.

Gonzalez was last seen alive at 11 p.m. Saturday, while at home with her oldest son, Desmarais said.

Her body was discovered just before 1 p.m. on Sunday, after the police in New York City got a tip and contacted the Providence police, telling them to check on Gonzalez’s well-being, Desmarias said.

Gonzalez’s teenage son hadn’t heard any commotion and didn’t know anything was wrong until police officers and firefighters broke into the house, said Desmarais. The boy pointed them to his mother’s locked bedroom. They found her body inside, with severe head injuries, Desmarais said.

Early Monday afternoon, 17-year-old Jonathan and his 11-year-old brother, Daniel, stood outside the brick bungalow at 573 Union Ave. where they’d lived with their mother. The boys were silent, looking stunned as they stood alongside family and friends.

Gonzalez had been raising her two sons while running a hair salon in the front section of the bungalow. On Monday, one customer after another pressed the doorbell and waited to be let in for appointments. When told of Gonzalez’s murder, one older woman gasped and put a hand over her heart.

Gonzalez was a popular hairdresser, who’d worked at other salons in the area. At the Professional Hair Salon on Whitehall Street, where she had worked for years with her best friend, Maggi Morel, she was remembered as a good person and a hard worker, who loved her sons.

Morel spread out photos of her friend across the salon’s counter, fighting back tears.

“Everybody liked Ingrid. Everybody call me, say ‘Maggi, what happened?’ ” Morel said.

Gonzalez was well-liked. Tineo was not. One of her longtime customers, Jamie Figueroa, said Gonzalez became distant when she got involved with Tineo several years ago.

“Boyfriend was bad, but Ingrid loved him,” Morel said.

Tineo is being held in New York City until he can be extradited to Providence to face the murder charge. He already has several outstanding charges in Rhode Island, including pending charges of possession of drugs and weapons from 2005.

Gonzalez is the eighth person slain in the city this year, and the second to die in a domestic-abuse case. In May, the police arrested a man for allegedly stabbing his girlfriend to death and setting her apartment on fire. Eight months earlier, the girlfriend had told police that he’d beaten her and attempted to rape her, but she later dropped the charges.

“This case is a tragic example of what can happen,” said Kris Lyons, the executive director of the Women’s Center of Rhode Island. “Domestic violence is a serious crime, and it has to be taken seriously.”

amilkovi@projo.com