Riverhead Teen Sentenced to 6 Years After November Shootings

A Riverhead teen who pleaded guilty to two November shootings was sentenced to six years in prison, followed by five years of post release supervision, on Wednesday.

Juan Soyos-Pixtun, 19, in the two November shootings in May. He was sentenced on Wednesday in Suffolk County Criminal Court on eight criminal charges before Judge Mark Cohen.

Before sentencing, Soyos-Pixtun, wearing a white long-sleeved T-shirt and handcuffed, asked through a Spanish interpreter, to be released for a short time to see his mother, whom he said has cancer.

Judge Cohen said he was sorry for Soyos-Pixtun's mother's illness, but denied the request.

Before reading the sentencing, Judge Cohen reminded the defendant that he's "sworn" to him that he had "engaged in certain crimes" and said he was guilty. The judge said he wanted to ensure that Soyos-Pixtun understood and still maintained his guilt; the defendant said he did.

Soyos-Pixtun asked the judge about the amount of time he would spend in jail and said he thought it would be a minimum of five years; the judge said the length of stay was up to the department of corrections. 

The defendant was originally charged with attempted murder in the second degree, among other charges, after police said he shot a man with a 9mm hangun in Polish Town a week after shooting another man outside the t on West Main Street.

Police say Soyos-Pixtun shot Riverhead resident Edgar Bautista, 20, with a 9mm semiautomatic handgun on Nov. 10 around 10:21 p.m. near Marcy Avenue and Pulaski Street. A witness identified Pixtun as the shooter. Police arrived to find the victim on the ground suffering from a gunshot wound to his upper leg, according to Lt. Robert Peeker. Witnesses at the scene told police that Soyos-Pixtun was the shooter, according to a police statement. The man's wounds were described as "non-life-threatening," police said.

Peeker added that an investigation revealed Soyos-Pixtun as the shooter in what they said was an unrelated incident on Nov. 4, when police said  outside the  on West Main Street at about 10 p.m.

At the sentencing, two orders of protection were issued for Bautista and Alvarado, which will expire on November 10, 2025.

Surveillance footage from the night of the first shooting allegedly shows Soyos-Pixtun in an altercation with the victim inside the  moments before the shooting, though no audio exists on the tape, said Riverhead Police Detective Robert Boden.

He was arrested and  and has been in custody since mid-November. An indictment unsealed on Nov. 22 downgraded the attempted murder charge to assault in the second degree.

District Attorney Thomas Spota said the prosecution requested  seven years of jail time for Soyos-Pixtun. Soyos-Pixtun, an undocumented immigrant, is expected to be deported to Guatamala, his country of origin, upon completion of his sentence.

Soyos-Pixtun pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted assault in the first degree, four counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, and two counts of assault in the second degree.

Soyos-Pixtun was also ordered to pay a $375 fine and surrender all weapons.

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