On Friday, February 3, the District Attorney for the Bronx, Darcel D. Clark, said that a man from Florida was handed a sentence of 20 years to life in prison for the murder of a Bronx woman that occurred in a Van Nest apartment in the year 2000.
The murder was committed by strangulation. In 2017, thanks to his DNA and a fingerprint found at the scene of the crime, a long-standing cold case was finally solved.
What Occurred In The Year 2000?
According to the findings of the investigation, the victim, Dora Del Valle, who was 19 years old at the time, was house-sitting for her uncle on the night of December 2, 2000. Her uncle was hospitalized at the time. The address of the apartment building was 1186 East 180th Street, and it was situated in the Van Nest area.
The accused, who lived in the area, is thought to have killed the youngster by suffocating her with a telephone wire before disposing of her body. The court was told that the raped woman’s family found her dead later that day after an apparent suicide attempt.
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According to reports from 2017, evidence that was discovered at the scene, including fingerprints and a significant amount of DNA, was linked to the accused. The prosecution asserts that he was taken into custody on December 8, 2017, after being extradited from Florida.
DNA evidence also connected the suspect to a homicide that occurred in Westchester County in 2005 but remained unsolved, according to the officials there.
Clark stated the following within the context of the statement: “The defendant murdered a 19-year-old woman in December of 2000, and her mother discovered her lifeless body.”
The accused had ostensibly begun a new life in Florida, but justice always finds a way to catch up with those who try to elude its grasp. The defendant was found guilty of second-degree murder and received a sentence that ranged from 20 years to life in prison as a result of his guilty plea.
According to reports, Justice Martin Marcus of the Bronx Supreme Court handed down a sentence of 20 years to life to defendant Christopher Gonzalez, who is 41 years old and from Naples, Florida. The defendant admitted his guilt and pleaded guilty to murder in the second degree on December 21, 2022.
Christine Scaccia, who is the head of the homicide bureau, and Theresa Gottlieb, who is the head of the trial division, managed the prosecution of the case together. In addition to that, James Brennan, who is currently serving as the deputy chief of the trial division, was a member of this monitoring committee.
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Clark’s gratitude was directed toward Ana Pimentel, an advocate with the Crime Victims Assistance Bureau. She was the recipient of Clark’s expression of gratitude.
The district attorney has expressed gratitude to the following individuals in addition to Detective Kevin O’Neill and the Collier County Sheriff’s Office: retired NYPD Detectives Malcolm Reiman and Matt McCrosson from the Bronx homicide unit; retired NYPD Detective Arthur Connelly from the latent print section; New York State Police Investigator Eugene Donnelly from the major crimes unit; and Detective Kevin O’Neill.
Clark said, “I appreciate the NYPD detectives who never gave up on finding the person who killed Dora Del Valle, and I hope today they can take some solace in this punishment.” While the family of Dora Del Valle has waited far too long for justice, Clark said, “I hope today they can take some solace in this punishment.”
