25 To Life For Murdering The Friend Who Gave Him A Place To Stay

YONKERS, NY — A Bronx man who murdered his former friend and roommate in cold blood learned his fate today.

The Bronx man was sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison for the 2022 murder of 29-year-old Yonkers resident Marquis Muniz, Westchester County District Attorney Miriam Rocah announced on Friday.

"The defendant violently took the life of a close friend in cold blood," Rocah said. "We hope today’s sentence brings a measure of justice and closure to Mr. Muniz’s loved ones."

After a three-week trial, a jury on Oct. 27 found William Pryor guilty of murder in the second degree and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. Should the 23-year-old ever be released from prison, he will be subject to community supervision by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

SEE ALSO: Grand Jury Indictment In Fatal Shooting Of Roommate In Yonkers: DA

On the afternoon of March 3, 2022, the Pryor used a .40 caliber pistol to shoot Muniz 10 times in the victim’s apartment on Riverdale Avenue in Yonkers. Muniz’s fiancé discovered his body in the apartment later that afternoon.

A month before the murder, Muniz evicted Pryor from his apartment after two years of living there rent-free. On the day of the murder, Pryor was captured on surveillance video entering and leaving the apartment building with a black garbage bag.

Surveillance footage also captured Pryor placing the black garbage bag in a car and traveling to his mother’s house in the Bronx, where police later recovered the bag. The bag was tested and found to have gunshot residue on it.

Following a two-month, multi-state investigation by the Yonkers Police Department, with assistance from the Peekskill Police Department, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, the Pryor was located at a residence in Montrose and arrested on June 30, 2022.

"On March 3, 2022, my life was forever changed by the hateful, envious actions of someone who my man only helped and gave love to when no one else would," Muniz's fiancé said in a statement to the court. "I came home that day to find the love of my life dead ...That is an image I will forever live with."