NY: Melinda Kazt – Queens District Attorney
Queens, NY (77WABC)-Two weeks after 30-year-old Miguel Pichardo said “I do,” he stabbed his new wife Yolanda Gonsalves to death the morning of June 2nd, 2015 at the couple’s apartment on 134th street in Richmond Hill.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz says Pichardo was sentenced Thursday to 16 years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter in his bride’s death after she challenged his authority.
Officials say a neighbor heard Gonsalves’ screams coming from the couple’s apartment and went to the unit’s door. Katz says Pichardo answered the door wearing only pajama pants and was covered in blood. He told the neighbor that he was cleaning. The neighbor then heard the 27-year-old victim screaming from within the apartment, “I’m having trouble breathing, he’s killing me.” The neighbor went back to his apartment and called 911.
Investigators discovered the woman’s body partially rolled in a carpet in the couple’s living room. Police recovered a knife handle on the bed and a blade – covered in blood – wrapped in a curtain, near the woman’s body. Pichardo had fled the apartment.
Outside the building, according to court documents, investigators discovered more blood on the rear door and a fence. After several hours, the defendant returned to the apartment, walking barefoot, shirtless, and wearing blood-stained pajama pants. He told police he had been married to the victim for two weeks and said, “I felt like it was her time to die.” Pichardo claimed the victim had challenged his authority and “gave him the finger” before he slapped her, stabbed her multiple times with a knife, and then choked her.
Katz said, “The victim was viciously attacked by her spouse just two weeks after saying ‘I do.’ The defendant told police she had challenged his authority. No one should have to suffer silently with an abusive partner. If you have been a victim of domestic violence, please reach out to get help. My office and our partner providers can help you get away from your abuser and protect your own life.”
Pichardo pleaded guilty on May 24, 2021, to manslaughter in the first degree before Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder.
Before sentencing yesterday, the Court permitted the use of video conferencing technology to allow members of the victim’s family, who could not travel to the United States, to provide impact statements from both Guyana and Trinidad. Justice Holder then sentenced the defendant to be followed by 5 years post-release supervision.
