22 Years For Infamous Lawrence Street Fatal Shooting

MOUNT VERNON, NY — A Yonkers man has been sentenced to 22 years in prison for a 2020 fatal shooting on a Yonkers street.

Jonathan Planas, who fled the scene, was found and arrested a year later in Yonkers.

Westchester County District Attorney Miriam Rocah announced on Thursday that the Westchester man who had eluded police for a year after fatally shooting 20-year-old Alvaro Vigueras Medina in Yonkers in 2020 was sentenced to 22 years in prison.

"This defendant callously opened fire in a populated area taking the life of an innocent man and then eluded police for a year," Rocah said. "I thank our law enforcement partners who worked tirelessly to find and remove this dangerous individual from our streets."

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Planas, who has a prior felony conviction, pleaded guilty on Dec. 18, to manslaughter in the first degree. The 34-year-old will also be subject to five years of post-release supervision.

On Oct. 10, 2020, shortly before 1:30 a.m., Planas exited a Mercedes Benz and fired multiple shots at Vigueras Medina who was walking on Lawrence Street in Yonkers, striking him once in the torso. Vigueras Medina ran to the lobby of a nearby building, collapsed, and was rushed to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Yonkers where he was pronounced dead. Police say Vigueras Medina did not know his killer.

Following the killing, Planas got back into the car and drove away. The Yonkers Police Department recovered multiple shell casings and Planas's cell phone, which was left behind at the scene.

Yonkers police located and arrested Planas at a home in Yonkers on Oct. 4, 2021, nearly a year after the killing. The Westchester County District Attorney’s Office and the FBI’s Westchester Safe Streets Task Force assisted with the investigation.

"Alvaro was a wonderful son. A loving, respectful, responsible, caring, and playful child," the mother of Vigueras Medina said in a statement to the court. "He had a beautiful smile ... He was the youngest of my children, and his life was taken away on October 10, 2020. That same day, my life stopped, leaving such a great pain in my life ... It is not fair that these young people took our child away from us by mistake. They left our hearts broken; our whole family was torn apart."