Bronx DA: Bronx Man Sentenced to 17 Years in Prison in Strangling Death of Girlfriend

BRONX MAN SENTENCED TO 17 YEARS IN PRISON IN STRANGLING DEATH OF GIRLFRIEND IN THEIR MORRIS HEIGHTS APARTMENT

Defendant Pleaded Guilty to First-Degree Manslaughter

          Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a Bronx man has been sentenced to 17 years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree Manslaughter for strangling his 21-year-old girlfriend. 

        District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant murdered his girlfriend, with whom he had been in a relationship with for approximately seven years, during an argument. He stayed in the apartment with her body for 48 hours then went to police and confessed to the killing. We must address the significant domestic violence problem in the Bronx to prevent such homicides.”

         District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Angel Esteban Feliz Rodriguez, 24, of 1628 Nelson Avenue, was sentenced today to 17 years in prison and five years’ post-release supervision by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Ethan Greenberg. The defendant pleaded guilty to first-degree Manslaughter on December 11, 2019.

According to the investigation, on April 8, 2019, in the apartment the couple shared, the defendant argued with the victim, Indira Ramirez Rivera, 21. Rodriguez strangled her, causing her death. On April 10, 2019, the defendant went to the 48^th Precinct station and told police he had a fight with his girlfriend and that she was dead in their apartment. The Police Officer’s body camera captured the defendant’s confession. Police went to the apartment and found the victim.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Kathryn Falasca, Supervisor in the Domestic Violence Bureau, under the supervision of Adrienne Giunta, Chief of the Domestic Violence Bureau, and under the overall supervision of Joseph Muroff, Chief of the Special Victims Division. District Attorney Clark thanked Rachel Ferrari, Chief of the Child Abuse/Sex Crimes Bureau, Johanna Hernandez, Deputy Chief of the Child Abuse/Sex Crimes Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Astrid Borgstedt, Trial Counsel in the Child Abuse/Sex Crimes Bureau, for their assistance in the case. District Attorney Clark also thanked NYPD Detective Francis Orlando of Bronx Homicide and NYPD Officer Johanna Vega of the 48^th Precinct.