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Yonkers resident Jonathan Planas was sentenced to 22 years in state prison for the October 2020 fatal shooting of Alvaro Vigueras Medina, Westchester County District Attorney Miriam Rocah announced on Thursday, Feb. 22.
At around 1:30 a.m. on the day of the shooting, Oct. 10, 2020, Planas got out of a Mercedes Benz and fired several shots at Medina while he was walking on Lawrence Street in Yonkers. Medina was hit once in the torso before running to the lobby of a nearby building and collapsing.
He was then taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in Yonkers, where he was pronounced dead.
Planas had not known Medina before the shooting, according to Rocah.
Following the shooting, Planas got back into the Mercedes and drove away, leaving his cell phone at the scene. The phone and several shell casings were later found by Yonkers Police.
The department then commenced an intense investigation to locate Planas, using surveillance footage, witness interviews, and ballistic evidence. Eventually, Planas was arrested at a Yonkers residence on Oct. 4, 2021, nearly a year after the shooting.
Planas, who had a previous felony conviction, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter on Monday, Dec. 18, 2023. After his prison term is up, he will have to serve five years of supervised release.
In court, Medina's mother gave a statement on the horror of her son's loss.
"Alvaro was a wonderful son. A loving, respectful, responsible, caring, and playful child. He had a beautiful smile..." she said, continuing, "He was the youngest of my children, and his life was taken away on October 10, 2020. That same day, my life stopped, leaving such a great pain in my life...It is not fair that these young people took our child away from us by mistake. They left our hearts broken; our whole family was torn apart.”
Rocah also condemned the shooting.
"This defendant callously opened fire in a populated area taking the life of an innocent man and then eluded police for a year. I thank our law enforcement partners who worked tirelessly to find and remove this dangerous individual from our streets," she said.
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