One Year Later, Remembering Woman Killed Near DMV

In less than a month, it will be one year since Mirian Yohanna Garcia Mancilla was found dead behind the Department of Motor Vehicles in Riverhead.

At the spot where the Garcia Mancilla was found on May 7, 2012, friends, family and loved ones have carefully set up a memorial, filled with flowers and hearts, a cross, and cards. Months have passed, and wind has toppled some of the plants, but the memorial stands strong -- a testament to the life of a young woman who was clearly loved and lost too soon.

Guillermo A. Alvarado-Ajcuc, 21, was arraigned before Judge John J. Toomey at the Arthur M. Cromarty Court Complex after being indicted last year in the homicide of Garcia Mancilla. He was charged by Suffolk County homicide detectives with murder in the second degree for the death of the Aquebogue resident, as well as rape in the first degree. A second charge was added, said Assistant District Attorney Glenn Kutzrock, of intentional murder, a felony charge.

At the arraigment, Kutzrock said Alvarado-Ajcuc followed Garcia Mancillo out of the restaurant/bar Sabor Latino in the early hours of May 7 to the parking lot behind the Department of Motor Vehicles, where he pulled off her clothes and raped her.

"When she resisted, he strangled her with his belt," Kutzrock said, leaving his victim "naked from the waist down and deceased."

Kutzrock said the defendant gave a full confession, which was videotaped, and signed a statement. 

As for Alvarado-Ajcuc, pretrial hearings continue May 1; the defendant remains incarcerated in the Suffolk County Correctional Facility.

Almost a year later, for those who loved Garcia Mancilla, the pain is still palpable.

"It's been tough," Alex Galasso, Garcia Mancilla's employer at Larry's Lighthouse Marina in Aquebogue, said. "Especially when we get to this time of year. She was a key employee here. I miss her. We think about her all the time."

Galasso said he stays in close touch with Garcia Mancilla's family, including her sister Zully and mother Marta. 

"It's been tough," he said, "especially on her mom. I think they look to higher powers. Thank God she's got the church, and family support, but it's hard."

Galasso said his employees drive by the memorial near the DMV and remember. He and his wife Christine, he added, don't let more than a few days go by without speaking of Garcia Mancilla.

"It's tough," he said. "We enjoyed her company not just as an employee, but as a person. It's a sad, sad ending to someone's life."

Galasso said he and Garcia Mancilla's family remain frustrated at how slowly the wheels of justice turn, with no closure yet regarding her alleged killer. "It's unbelievable how our court system works," he said. 

At the arraignment, Zully Garcia wept for her sister.  "I'm very sad," she said. "And I'm angry. I hope he goes to jail for life."

"I have a pain in my heart," said Marta Garcia, the victim's mother, in Spanish. "This is very hard for the whole family."

Her sister, Garcia said, was "a very good person -- like my second mother" -- who was very close to her children, ages 7 and 5. "When I lost a baby three months ago, I was in the hospital and she took care of my kids."

Losing her sister, Garcia added, "has changed everything in my life. Every time I needed something, I called her -- and now, she's not here."

Angie Godoy, Garcia Macilla's best friend for seven years, sobbed as she remembered her friend, who, she said, was "very sweet -- always happy."

Riverhead attorney Eileen Powers, representing Alvarado-Ajcuc, said at the arraignment she would be entering a plea of not guilty and requesting a jury trial.

Speaking through an interpreter, Alvarado-Ajuc told Justice Allen Smith that he lived with his father, a day laborer who works in landscaping, in Riverhead, and had been residing in the United States for four years. He is not a United States citizen.

The defendant faces 25 years to life on the murder charge, Kurtzrock said. He added that before he was arrested, Alvarado-Ajuc cut his hair and then, shaved his head, in an alleged attempt to alter his appearance.

Garcia Macilla is remembered as a young woman who loved karate, soccer, and being a DJ during events. After her body was found, Garcia said the family's church and the community surrounded them with comfort. "Everyone has helped so much," she said.