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Marilyn Cotto Montanez, of Yonkers, was shot in the head on Thursday, April 25, near the intersection of Lake and Morningside avenues in Yonkers, police said. The 11th-grader from Lincoln High School was taken to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
On Tuesday, May 7, shortly before 1 a.m., Jamir Thompson, accompanied by his mother, surrendered himself into police custody at the Yonkers Police 3rd Precinct on Riverdale Avenue. Thompson was taken into custody without incident.
Thompson was taken to the Yonkers Police Youth Services Division on North Broadway, where he was processed on the warrant that was issued for his arrest last week.
Thompson has since been transferred to the Westchester County Court in White Plains, where he was arraigned on Tuesday afternoon on a single charge of second-degree murder, a violent felony.
It is expected that Thompson will be remanded to a juvenile detention facility subsequent to his arraignment as a juvenile offender. Thompson is reportedly associated with a gang in the area and is a 15-year-old eighth-grade student at the Linden School in Hawthorne.
“Today’s surrender of Jamir Thompson is the direct result of the hard work and dedication of the Yonkers Police Department,” Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano said in a statement. “Their tireless efforts in tracking this individual gave him no other choice than to turn himself in for his heinous crime against a young woman with a bright future.
"Great job by our Yonkers’ finest. I look forward to seeing justice served for the sake of the family and friends of Marilyn and our Yonkers community.”
Yonkers Police Det. Sgt. Dean Politopoulos said that the initial investigation determined that several people who were familiar with each other were involved in an altercation before the gun went off.
One group wound up allegedly chasing the other, with a suspect, Thompson, displaying a handgun, which went off, striking Montanez in the head, who was uninvolved, Politopoulos said. The suspects then fled the scene.
The case is being tried by the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office. Additional details are expected to be released as the case continues.
Police Commissioner Charles Gardner stated, “Jamir Thompson has been taken into custody and will now have to answer for his despicable actions. I applaud the dedication of our police officers and detectives and their on-going, relentless pursuit of justice for the family of Marilyn Cotto Montanez.”
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