A 22-year-old man identified as an undocumented migrant from El Salvador has been taken into custody in New York following the fatal stabbings of two women, one of whom was a mother of two and his coworker at a Wendy’s.
Authorities say Rony Yahir Alvarenga Rivera surrendered to police on Saturday in Long Island in connection with the killings of his 32-year-old roommate and 42-year-old coworker, Ana Maria del Aguila-Cordova. He now faces charges including first- and second-degree murder, reports The Daily Mail.
According to Nassau County Police Chief Patrick Ryder, investigators believe the suspect acted out of intense emotion. “Both females were killed by multiple stab wounds to the neck and torso,” Ryder told NBC 4.
Aguila-Cordova was discovered outside an Island Park Wendy’s around 12:30 a.m. Friday, shortly after taking out the trash at the restaurant where she and Rivera reportedly worked together. Describing the scene, George Darienzo, commanding officer of the Nassau police homicide unit, said, “When officers responded, they observed a lady, a young lady, with blood,” according to reports.
Family members, including her sister and niece, identified Aguila-Cordova. Speaking to CBS News reporter Carolyn Gusoff, they indicated they may have insight into why she was targeted. The Long Beach resident leaves behind two young children, ages eight and one.
The second victim, a 32-year-old woman whose name has not yet been released, was found in her Valley Stream home shortly after 3 a.m. Friday. Police believe she was killed several hours earlier, around 9 p.m. Thursday night. Rivera reportedly lived in the same residence.
Darienzo explained the living arrangement, noting, “They rent bedrooms at the location and there are general spaces throughout the house they share. So they cohabitate, acquaintances of one another…As far as a relationship, I’m not aware of specific domestic relationship between those two.” Addressing a possible motive, he added he could “sum it up in one word: anger.”
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who is running for governor as a Republican, criticized federal immigration policies during a press conference. He stated Rivera entered the United States as an unaccompanied minor around age 12.
“Our hearts go out to the two individuals who were murdered. But I want to stress that this didn’t have to happen,” Blakeman said. He continued, “In 2022, the federal government had a program where any unaccompanied minors that were in the United States automatically would receive papers that let them stay here legally in the form, I believe, of a green card.”
Blakeman concluded with a broader critique, saying, “This is a policy that has resulted today in two women being killed. They could’ve gone on to have very productive and happy lives. But they’re no longer with us because of failed policies in the past.”