WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. – Westchester County District Attorney Miriam E. Rocah announced today that a Bronx man was sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison for the 2022 murder of his friend and former roommate, 29-year-old Yonkers resident Marquis Muniz.
DA Rocah said: “The defendant violently took the life of a close friend in cold blood. We hope today’s sentence brings a measure of justice and closure to Mr. Muniz’s loved ones.”
After a three-week trial, a jury on Oct. 27 found William Pryor, 23, guilty of Murder in the Second Degree and two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, all felonies. Should the defendant be released from prison, he will be subject to community supervision by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
On March 3, 2022, at approximately 3:40 p.m., the defendant used a .40 caliber pistol to shoot the victim 10 times in the victim’s apartment on Riverdale Avenue in Yonkers. The victim’s fiancé discovered the victim’s body in the apartment later that afternoon.
Approximately one month prior to the murder, the victim evicted the defendant from his apartment after two years of living there rent-free. On the day of the murder, the defendant was captured on surveillance video entering and leaving the apartment building with a black garbage bag.
Surveillance evidence also captured the defendant placing the black garbage bag in a car and traveling to his mother’s house in the Bronx, where police later recovered the bag. The bag was tested and found to have gunshot residue on it.
Following a two-month, multi-state investigation conducted by the Yonkers Police Department, with assistance from the Peekskill Police Department, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, the defendant was located at a residence in Montrose and arrested on June 30, 2022.
In a statement to the court, the victim’s fiancé said: “On March 3, 2022, my life was forever changed by the hateful, envious actions of someone who my man only helped and gave love to when no one else would...I came home that day to find the love of my life dead...That is an image I will forever live with.”
The case was before Judge Robert Neary in Westchester County Court and prosecuted by Bureau Chief Daniel Flecha and Senior Assistant District Attorney Catalina Blanco Buitrago, both of the Trials and Investigations Division.
Anna Young, Public Information Officer
(914) 995-6551
ayoung@westchesterda.net
