Crime & Safety

Suspect Arraigned in Alleged Homicide of Riverhead Woman

Mirian Yohanna Garcia Mancilla's family faces her alleged killer in court on Friday morning.

Tears streamed down the faces of family and friends of a woman found dead in Riverhead as they faced the man who allegedly killed her in a Riverside courtroom on Friday.

Guillermo A. Alvarado-Ajcuc, 21, was arraigned on Friday before Judge John J. Toomey at the Arthur M. Cromarty Court Complex after being indicted earlier this week in the homicide of

and charged by Suffolk County homicide detectives with murder in the second degree for the the death of Aquebogue resident Garcia Mancilla, as well as rape in the first degree.

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A second charge was added, said Assistant District Attorney Glenn Kutzrock, of intentional murder, a felony charge.

At the arraigment Kutzrock said Alvarado-Ajcuc followed Garcia Mancillo out of the restaurant/bar Sabor Latino in the early hours of May 7 to the parking lot behind the Department of Motor Vehicles, where he pulled off her clothes and raped her. "When she resisted, he strangled her with his belt," Kutzrock said, leaving his victim "naked from the waist down and deceased."

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Kutzrock said the defendant gave a full confession, which was videotaped, and signed a statement.

 who also had family in Flanders, at a Riverhead shopping center on May 7. The Office of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner determined the woman’s death was a homicide; Suffolk County police say she died of strangulation.

After hearing in court about what had happened to Garcia Mancilla, her family left the courtroom in tears. "I'm very sad," said her sister, Zully Garcia. "And I'm angry. I hope he goes to jail for life."

"I have a pain in my heart," said Marta Garcia, the victim's mother, in Spanish. "This is very hard for the whole family."

Her sister, Garcia said, was "a very good person -- like my second mother" -- who was very close to her children, ages 7 and 5. "When I lost a baby three months ago, I was in the hospital and she took care of my kids."

Losing her sister, Garcia added, "has changed everything in my life. Everytime I needed something, I called her -- and now, she's not here."

Angie Godoy, Garcia Macilla's best friend for seven years, sobbed as she remembered her friend, who, she said, was "very sweet -- always happy."

Her sister said that neither Garcia Mancilla nor her family knew Alvarado-Ajcuc.

Alvarado-Ajcuc was held without bail and will next appear in court on June 19, when the judge will hear a bail application by Riverhead attorney Eileen Powers, who said she will be entering a plea of not guilty and request a jury trial. 

Speaking through an intepreter last week, Alvarado-Ajuc told Justice Allen Smith that he lives with his father, a day laborer who works in landscaping, in Riverhead, and has been residing in the United States for four years. He is not a United States citizen.

The defendant faces 25 years to life on the murder charge, Kurtzrock said. He added that before he was arrested, Alvarado-Ajuc cut his hair and then, shaved his head, in an alleged attempt to alter his appearance.

Garcia Macilla is remembered as a young woman who loved karate, soccer, and being a DJ during events.

After her body was found, Garcia said the family's church and the community have surrounded them with comfort. "Everyone has helped so much," she said. 

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