GARDEN CITY, NY — The Valley Stream man charged with murdering his uncle’s girlfriend and his coworker at the Island Park Wendy’s could be the subject of a psychiatric defense, a judge said Wednesday.
In a conference Wednesday in Nassau County Court, Judge Robert Schwartz said the defense and prosecution in Alvarenga-Rivera’s case were still in the process of exchanging and reviewing “voluminous” discovery documents. Alvarenga-Rivera’s defense attorney, Megan Rha, said her office had received a good amount of discovery, including grand jury minutes and video footage. Rha declined to comment on the proceedings after Wednesday’s court appearance.
The discovery process pertains to the May 1 murders of Eddy Raquel Hernandez Castillo and Ana Maria Del Aguila-Cordova, both of which Alvarenga-Rivera is charged with committing, prosecutors said. In total, the 22-year-old is charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder, charges to which he has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors previously said that Alvarenga-Rivera had stabbed Hernandez Castillo more than 50 times because he was annoyed by the sound of her high heels when she walked on the floor above his room. After doing that, Alvarenga-Rivera traveled to the Wendy’s in Island Park, waited outside by the dumpsters and stabbed Del Aguila-Cordova more than 30 times when she went outside to take the trash out, prosecutors said.
Two hours after the stabbing at the Island Park Wendy’s, Alvarenga called the police himself from a Lynbrook 7-11, prosecutors said.
According to a June 4 court order, Rha moved to employ the services of “an expert in psychiatry or psychology” to prepare for and conduct Alvarenga-Rivera’s defense. That order also establishes that the cost of such expert service, up to $3,000, could be billed to Nassau County.
In Wednesday’s conference, Schwartz said that, “there may be a notice of psychiatric defense forthcoming,” but said that such a notice has not yet been filed.
According to state records, psychiatric evidence is not admissible in trials unless a written notice of the intent to use it is filed with the court and served to the prosecution ahead of time. Rha did not say Wednesday whether or not she intended to file the notice of psychiatric defense.
Alvarenga-Rivera is scheduled to return to court August 17, Schwartz said.
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