On 28/4, Kayla Alvarenga, a gang leader in Long Island, New York, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for ordering the murder of 29-year-old driver Linver Ortiz Ponce.

Alvarenga was convicted of orchestrating the kidnapping and murder, directing accomplices to hunt down the victim and using minors to commit the crime.

According to the Suffolk County prosecutor, Linver was completely unknown to Alvarenga's gang; he had only stopped to rest on the street after a night out but "died for parking in the wrong place."

At the trial, the judge stated that Alvarenga "had no respect for human life" and showed no remorse. She refused to speak in court or offer any apologies to the victim's family.

Kayla Alvarenga. Photo: Suffolk County District Attorney's Office

The senseless murder occurred after Alvarenga saw Linver's red Chevrolet Camaro parked in front of her Bay Shore home in 3/2022. She went outside and demanded the car be moved, but the driver refused, leading to a heated argument just before midnight.

According to police, Alvarenga then called 28-year-old Christopher Perdomo and three teenagers to her home to forcibly remove Linver.

The group arrived shortly after in a luxury BMW they had stolen from a young woman in Bay Shore just hours earlier. Under Alvarenga's direction, the four assailants dragged Linver from his car, brutally beat him, and stole the Camaro. Linver escaped and ran to a nearby gas station.

But according to the prosecutor, Alvarenga ordered her accomplices to track down, kidnap, and murder Linver.

Surveillance video from the gas station captured Alvarenga driving Linver's Camaro, waiting in the dark as her accomplices used a gun to threaten and drag the victim into the vehicle.

The prosecutor stated that Perdomo repeatedly struck Linver with the butt of a gun during the drive to a nearby church parking lot, where Alvarenga issued her final command.

"Kill him," she ordered Perdomo. He shot Linver four times as the victim tried to crawl away.

The criminals then abandoned the body and fled. They disposed of the two stolen vehicles in different locations before taking a ride back to Alvarenga's home, where they divided the money from Linver's wallet.

Perdomo was arrested in Georgia in 5/2024. He is expected to be sentenced to 20 years in prison on 12/5 under a plea agreement. According to the prosecutor, five other minor defendants have also pleaded guilty.

Tue Anh (from Nypost)