BRONX MAN SENTENCED TO 25 YEARS TO LIFE IN PRISON
FOR MURDERING GIRLFRIEND
Defendant Seen Pushing a Shopping Cart Dripping Blood;
Victim’s Body Was Never Found
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a Bronx man has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison after being found guilty by a jury of second-degree Murder for stabbing his girlfriend to death.
District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant killed his girlfriend and disposed of her body like garbage. Although her remains were never recovered, a jury listened to the facts of the case and found the defendant guilty. I hope this sentence brings some solace to the victim’s family.”
District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Miguel Bonilla, 49, was sentenced today to 25 years to life in prison by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Margaret Clancy. The defendant was found guilty of second-degree Murder after a jury trial on January 31, 2022.
According to the investigation, on August 9, 2016, the victim, Juana Alvarez, 52, was reported missing. It is believed she lived with her then-boyfriend Miguel Bonilla and her dog. On August 22, 2016, the defendant was arrested for not paying his subway fare. In a statement to police, he confessed to stabbing his girlfriend and disposing of her in a dumpster. The investigation led detectives to an upstate landfill, but the body was never located. A search warrant of the victim’s home found traces of her blood in the apartment. Detectives also obtained surveillance video showing Alvarez walking her dog walking outside the building daily until July 27, 2016, the last time she was ever seen. Two days later, the defendant was captured on video pushing a shopping cart dripping with blood.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney George Suminski, Homicide Counsel, under the supervision of Christine Scaccia, Chief of the Homicide Bureau, and under the overall supervision of James Brennan, Deputy Chief of the Trial Division, and Theresa Gottlieb, Chief of the Trial Division.
District Attorney Clark thanked Beryl Wright, Clerical Associate of the Homicide Bureau, Violeta Sambula, Director of Interpreting Services, and Stalin Crespo, Video Technician in the Video Unit, for their assistance in the case.
District Attorney Clark also thanked NYPD Detective Albert Crawford of the Arson and Explosion Unit (formerly of the 44th Precinct), and Detective John Entenmann of the Crime Scene Unit, as well as retired NYPD Detective Sean O’Leary of Bronx Homicide for their investigation.
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