Woman found dead after cutting ties with sugar daddy, mentor says

LONG ISLAND – The Pennsylvania man suspected of killing a Brooklyn artist at a luxury wellness retreat in the Hamptons had been in a romantic relationship with her for years, but she was trying to break away from him, according to a friend and mentor.

The Brooklyn artist who was reportedly murdered at a Hamptons spa on Monday apparently had been trying to break off a long-term relationship with the Pennsylvania man believed to be her sugar daddy her mentor tells FOX News.

“I had a sense that she wanted to get away from him,” said Liz Phillips, a part-time art professor at SUNY Purchase, where she taught Rosas and hired her as an assistant, referring to her mentee’s desire to distance herself from the man.

Sabina Rosas, 33, was found dead inside a room the Shou Sugi Ban House in Water Mill.

“He came everywhere with her,” she said, but she thought Rosas was getting tired of it.

The suspect, 56-year-old Thomas Gannon, Rosas’ alleged sugar daddy, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his Pennsylvania home by Wednesday.

Phillips says Rosas had been romantically involved with Gannon for about four years, during which he funded some of her projects.

She says Rosas planned to visit her in Queens but Rosas never arrived.

“She was beautiful and talented,” she said. “She really lit up a classroom like no one else.”

Phillips described Rosas as a hardworking and talented artist with a unique background. “I wish he’d just killed himself and not her,” she said.

Officials aren’t saying how Rosas died and the investigation remains ongoing.

FOX News contributed to this report.