Man Accused Of Killing Missing Newburgh Woman: DA

NEWBURGH, NY — A Newburgh man was accused of killing a city of Newburgh woman whose body has not been found.

Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler said Friday that Matthew Mercado, 37, of Newburgh, was arraigned in Orange County Court on charges including second-degree murder.

He was charged in connection with the death of 36-year-old Jessica Lopez, of the city of Newburgh. She was last seen Nov. 3, 2019, at the Windsor Motel in the town of New Windsor.

Prosecutors said Mercado had previously been charged with second-degree burglary after being accused of breaking into Room 32 of the Windsor Motel around 1:35 a.m. Nov. 3, 2019, and stealing two bags from the three young women who had been sleeping in the room at the time, police said.

Mercado has been in jail since his arrest Nov. 6, 2019, in connection with those charges.

The district attorney's office superseded that case in the grand jury and asked the panel to consider additional evidence concerning the disappearance of Lopez, who had been staying with Mercado in Room 33 of the motel the night of Nov. 2, 2019.

The grand jury indicted Mercado for second-degree murder, the district attorney said, for intentionally killing Lopez in Room 33 of the motel as she was trying to leave around 5 a.m. Nov. 3, 2019.

Mercado was also indicted for a separate count of second-degree murder after being accused of killing Lopez during the commission of a robbery or kidnapping of her.

He was additionally charged with two counts of fourth-degree grand larceny; he was accused of stealing Lopez's bank card and stealing about $1,500 from her account, police said. Most of the money was taken out in ATM withdrawals beginning around 9 a.m. Nov. 3, 2019.

Authorities said Mercado was also charged with three counts of tampering with physical evidence, felonies. According to the police, he removed Lopez's body from Room 33, place her in the trunk of her car, drove to an unknown location and hid the body. He was also accused of deleting text messages between Lopez's phone and his phone that were sent about 5:30 a.m. Afterward, he disposed of Lopez's phone so it couldn't be used as evidence, police said.

The grand jury also indicted Mercado again for second-degree burglary for breaking into Room 32 and stealing the bags from the three young women. Police said he told the women that he wouldn't give them their bags back and that he was an undercover police officer. That led to a charge of second-degree criminal impersonation, authorities said.

The district attorney's office said bail was set in the amount of $1 million cash, $3 million secured bond or $10 million partially secured bond.

The case is scheduled for a virtual conference in county court Dec. 2.

Authorities said Mercado faces up to 25 years to life in state prison on the second-degree murder charge and up to an additional 15 years in state prison on the second-degree burglary charge.

Hoovler said, by all accounts, Lopez was a remarkable young woman and her loss is being severely felt by her family, friends and many of her former students.

Lopez formerly taught at Newburgh Free Academy and worked at a Newburgh health clinic until quitting to take care of an ill parent, the Daily Voice said.

"While recovering her remains will continue to be a high priority for us," Hoovler said, we are fully prepared to litigate this case even without her body being recovered."

He said murder convictions without bodies are permissible under the law and such convictions have occurred before in Orange County.

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