On September 23, Javier Da Silva was sentenced to 30 years in prison for kidnapping Valerie Reyes in New Rochelle, and unlawfully transporting her to Connecticut, where her body was found approximately a week later. DA SILVA, who was arrested in Flushing, Queens in February 2019, pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Vincent Briccetti on February 4, 2020. Reyes, a 24 year old bookstore employee and artist, had broken off their relationship 9 months before her death.
On the day of his sentencing, as Da Silva appeared to be trying to ask Federal Judge Vincent Briccetti for a lenient sentence, Valerie Reyes’ mother, Norma Sanchez set te record straight. “A mother can never wants to face a terrible day like this. It would take a day to describe the joy Valerie brought into their lives, My boys are all heart-broken and devastated. You are a selfish, greedy soulless person. Today, I hope Valerie finds the justice she deserves.”
Da Silva, pleaded guilty in 2020 to Reyes’ homicide, which occured in Jan. 2019. US District Court Vincent Briccetti sentence Da Silva in White Plains. “What you did to this woman was sickening. … Anyone who could do such a thing is not a good person, by definition. Anyone who can do a thing like that is an evil person. Justice requires an evil deed be punished by a lengthy prison sentence,” said Judge Briccetti.
In the late evening of January 28, 2019, Da Silva rented a car from a garage in Flushing, New York and drove to the Reyes’ residence in New Rochelle, New York, arriving in the early morning hours of January 29, 2019. Before he entered the Reyes’ home, Da Silva switched his phone to “airplane mode.” Sometime after Da Silva entered the Victim’s apartment, the two had a violent altercation, during which the Reyes suffered head trauma, bruising around the face, and a large hematoma to her forehead. Da Silva then kidnapped Reyes, covering her mouth with several layers of packing tape and binding her feet and hands with packing tape and twine and putting her in a suitcase—before disposing of her body, still inside the suitcase, in Connecticut. Over the ensuing days, Da Silva used Reyes’ debit card on various occasions to withdraw approximately $5,350 in cash from her bank account. Da Silva also sold an iPad belonging to the Victim in the days following her death.
On January 30, 2019, the Victim was reported missing to the New Rochelle Police Department. A few days later, on February 5, 2019, her body was recovered in a red suitcase alongside a public road in the Town of Greenwich, Connecticut. The Connecticut Medical Examiner’s Office later concluded that the Victim died of homicidal asphyxiation. The case was tried in Federal Court because Da Silva transported Reyes across state lines.
U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss stated: “Javier Da Silva committed a horrific kidnapping that resulted in the death of a young woman. In the days after, he used her ATM card to empty her bank account and then attempted to cover up the evidence of his conduct. Valerie Reyes, the victim of this crime, was in the prime of her life when it was senselessly ended by Da Silva’s abhorrent act. Those who commit violence, especially those who kill, will not escape justice.”
May God Bless Valerie Reyes and her family.
