February 22, 2024
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. – Westchester County District Attorney Miriam E. Rocah announced today that a Yonkers man who had eluded police for a year after fatally shooting 20-year-old Alvaro Vigueras Medina in Yonkers in 2020 was sentenced to 22 years in state prison.
DA Rocah said: “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.”
The defendant, Jonathan Planas, 34, who has a prior felony conviction, pleaded guilty on Dec. 18, 2023, to Manslaughter in the First Degree. The defendant will also be subject to five years of post-release supervision.
On Oct. 10, 2020, at approximately 1:28 a.m., the defendant exited a Mercedes Benz and fired multiple shots at the victim who was walking on Lawrence Street in Yonkers, striking him once in the torso. The victim ran to the lobby of a nearby building, collapsed, and was transported to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Yonkers where he was pronounced dead. The victim and defendant were not known to each other.
Following the incident, the defendant got back into the car and drove away. The Yonkers Police Department recovered multiple shell casings and the defendant’s cell phone, which was left at the scene.
Following an investigation utilizing surveillance footage, witness interviews and ballistic evidence, Yonkers police located and arrested the defendant at a residence in Yonkers on Oct. 4, 2021. The Westchester County District Attorney’s Office and the FBI’s Westchester Safe Streets Task Force assisted with the investigation.
In a statement to the court, the victim’s mother stated: “Alvaro was a wonderful son. A loving, respectful, responsible, caring, and playful child. He had a beautiful smile...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.”
The case was before Judge George Fufidio in Westchester County Court and prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Marissa Morra-Wynn and Rachel Ehrhardt, both of the Trials and Investigations Division. New Rochelle Bureau Chief Craig Ascher assisted.
Anna Young, Public Information Officer
(914) 995-6551
ayoung@westchesterda.net
