16-Year Prison Term for 17-Year-Old in Violent Robbery

A 16-year-old boy will receive a 16-year prison sentence for fatally injuring a man during a July robbery in Spring Valley, Rockland County District Attorney Thomas P. Zugibe announced Thursday.

Jiwan Coleman of 31 Seabring St. pleaded guilty today to one count of Manslaughter in the First Degree, a class “B” Felony.

Zubibe said Ruben Suchite Torres was walking home from the Spring Valley Transit Center at 11:42 p.m. June 26 when Coleman began to follow him. Near the corner of Grove Street and North Myrtle Avenue, Coleman hit Torres in the back of the head with a rock, stole his wallet and cell phone and ran away.

After an investigation by the Spring Valley Police Department, Coleman was arrested on June 28.

Torres, who had been transferred to Westchester Medical Center, remained in a coma for several days. He died July 2.

“The defendant admitted that his violent and unprovoked actions were solely responsible for the untimely death of an innocent man," Zugibe said. "As such, he has proven himself unfit for society, and the prison term to be imposed is more than warranted.”

Coleman will be sentenced on March 14, 2017 to 16 years in state prison. Executive Assistant District Attorney Stephen Moore prosecuted the case.