Illegal immigrant stabbed neighbor 50 times, killed coworker
A 22-year-old Salvadoran immigrant has been charged with murdering two women in separate stabbings on Long Island after allegedly confessing to police he killed them over noise and workplace disputes.
Rony Yahir Alvarenga Rivera pleaded not guilty Tuesday to first-degree and second-degree murder charges stemming from the April 30 and May 1 killings, as New York Post reports.
According to Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly, Rivera first targeted his upstairs neighbor Eddy Raquel Hernandez Castillo in their Lynbrook apartment building on April 30, stabbing her approximately 50 times. The motive, Rivera allegedly told police, was noise complaints about her high heels and loud phone conversations that disturbed him in his basement unit.
He told her he was annoyed by the noise that she was making, Donnelly explained at a press conference, adding that Rivera’s clothing was covered in blood when authorities arrested him.
Rivera entered the United States illegally in 2016 as an unaccompanied 12-year-old minor from El Salvador, federal authorities confirmed.
The district attorney revealed that Rivera confessed to both the Lynbrook Police Department and Nassau County Police Department after waiving his Miranda rights. Detectives learned he expected to be caught after the first murder and immediately planned a second attack.
Second Victim Murdered at Work
Hours after killing Hernandez Castillo, Rivera drove to his workplace at a Lynbrook Wendy’s restaurant shortly after midnight on May 1. Prosecutors say he waited by a dumpster for nearly 30 minutes before ambushing coworker Ana Maria de Aguila Cordova, a 42-year-old mother of three, when she stepped outside to dispose of trash.
Rivera allegedly stabbed Cordova more than 30 times. Prosecutors indicated Rivera harbored a grievance against the woman and felt disrespected by her.
Following the second murder, Rivera called police on himself from a 7-Eleven location in Lynbrook around 3 a.m., allegedly stating to officers that he had killed someone that night.
Rivera was arraigned in Mineola court Tuesday on multiple charges including first-degree murder. He is being held without bail and is scheduled to return to court on July 8.
With information from New York Post
