A Connecticut man was sentenced to 30 years in prison for tying up his ex-girlfriend inside a suitcase and leaving her by the side of the road to suffocate to death. Javier Da Silva Rojas, 26, from Queens, New York, pled guilty last year to kidnapping resulting in death for the brutal attack on 24-year-old Valerie Reyes, a book shop worker and aspiring tattoo artist.
Ms. Reyes’ mother said at the sentencing hearing in White Plains on Thursday that Da Silva is a ‘selfish, greedy and soulless person’ who ‘deserve[s] nothing but pain and rejection’.
Once Da Silva completes his sentence, he will be under supervised release for two years. According to federal immigration authorities, he is in the US illegally, which also means that he could be deported. Audrey Strauss, the US attorney, said: ‘Javier Da Silva committed a horrific kidnapping that resulted in the death of a young woman. The victim of this crime was in the prime of her life when it was senselessly ended by Da Silva’s abhorrent act.’
Venezuelan migrant Da Silva, who had dated Ms. Reyes for three months in 2018, admitted getting into a violent fight with her at her apartment. In January 2019, he bound her feet and arms, taped her mouth, and stuffed her into a red suitcase. He left the suitcase in the woods near Greenwich, Connecticut, where it was found a week later. According to the medical examiner, Ms. Reyes died of asphyxia.
A court document states that Ms. Reyes told her mother one day beforehand that she was nervous that someone was going to murder her. After Ms. Reyes failed to show up for her job at Barnes & Noble book store, her family began searching for her.
Read also: Court orders man accused of attempted rape to wash women’s clothes for six months
Da Silva allegedly used her debit card to withdraw more than $5,300 and steal her iPad and laptop. After her body was found, Da Silva reportedly rented the same car used by him for the crime and took it to a car wash. Nevertheless, his DNA was found on the suitcase handle and under Ms. Reyes’ fingernails. On Thursday, Da Silva cried as he apologized to her family. ‘No words can express how repulsed I am by the acts I committed. I will never forgive myself for that. I cannot ask [her family] to forgive me because I don’t deserve it. I would like them to know I’m very sorry,’ he said.
The prosecution argued that he had shown no remorse following the crime. It was reported that he entered the US in 2017 on a 90-day visa waiver and illegally overstayed. His lawyers claimed he fled Venezuela in search of a better life.
Post Your Comments