Mount Vernon Man Pleads Guilty for 2024 Stabbing Death of Neighborhood Resident

January 6, 2025

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. – Westchester County District Attorney Susan Cacace announced today that Ronald Hechavarria, 36, of Mount Vernon, pleaded guilty Monday to Manslaughter in the First Degree, a class B felony, for stabbing another Mount Vernon man to death in 2024.

Hechavarria is expected to be sentenced to 25 years in state prison plus 5 years of post-release supervision when he is sentenced by Judge Maurice Dean Williams on April 17.

DA Cacace said: “The defendant’s cold-blooded assault left another man for dead, and for that he will spend the next several decades behind bars. My heart breaks for the victim’s loved ones. We will always seek the most severe penalties for those who take another human life.”

On Aug. 1, 2024, the defendant stabbed 37-year-old Mount Vernon resident Michael Clay multiple times, causing his death.

After killing Clay, the defendant absconded to Norfolk, Va., where he was later arrested as a fugitive from justice and returned to Westchester County.

The case was investigated by the Mount Vernon Police Department, the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, the Westchester County Department of Public Safety and the Norfolk Police Department.

The case is being prosecuted by Violent Criminal Enterprise Bureau Chief James Bavero and Assistant District Attorneys Kevin Jones and Leigh Wellington.

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