QUEENS, NYC - On Thursday, Javier Da Silva Rojas, 25, pleaded guilty to kidnapping his 24-year-old ex-girlfriend. In exchange for the plea, he avoided a murder trial.
On February 5, 2019, the body of Valerie Reyes was discovered inside a suitcase, on the side of a road in Greenwich, Connecticut. Her family reported her missing a few days earlier.
An autopsy determined the cause of death to be “homicidal asphyxiation.”
In a news release, U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss stated:
Sometime after DA SILVA entered the Victim’s apartment, DA SILVA and the Victim had a violent altercation, during which the Victim suffered head trauma, bruising around the face, and a large hematoma to her forehead. DA SILVA then kidnapped the Victim—covering her mouth with several layers of packing tape and binding her feet and hands with packing tape and twine and putting her in a suitcase—before disposing of her body, still inside the suitcase, in Connecticut.
Over the ensuing days, DA SILVA used the Victim’s debit card on various occasions to withdraw approximately $5,350 in cash from her bank account. DA SILVA also sold an iPad belonging to the Victim in the days following her death.
Before sentencing was handed-down, the victim’s mother was allowed to address the court.
"You, Javier, deserve nothing but pain and rejection," she told the court. "I want you to hear the words of a mother who you devastated by taking away my baby girl," reported The Daily Mail.
U.S. District Judge Vincent Briccetti sentenced Da Silva to 30 years in prison. He is also scheduled to be deported upon completion of his sentence.
Da Silva is in the country illegally from Venezuela.
*While this crime has been covered by several local media outlets, Da Silva's immigration status has been ignored by all but a few. Nothing new there...
However, aside from the brutal way in which the young woman was killed, and the callous disposal of her body, the most disgusting part of this episode may be the behavior of the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Southern District of New York.
U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss never once mentioned the fact that Da Silva is an illegal alien, and even described the killer as "a Queens man."
