A 23-year-old Bay Shore woman was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for orchestrating the kidnapping and murder of a man after a dispute over parking in front of her home, Suffolk County prosecutors said.
Kayla Alvarenga was convicted in March of first-degree murder and related charges in the 2022 killing of Linver Ortiz Ponce, 29, of Central Islip. The sentencing was announced April 28 by Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney.
Prosecutors said the violence began late on Sept. 17, 2022, when Ortiz Ponce parked his red Chevrolet Camaro outside Alvarenga’s Fifth Avenue home. Authorities said Alvarenga confronted him and demanded he move the vehicle.
After the dispute, prosecutors said Alvarenga contacted Christopher Perdomo, 28, of Glen Cove, along with three adolescents between 16 and 17 years old, and directed them to come to her home and remove the victim.
According to evidence presented at trial, the group arrived in a BMW that had been stolen earlier that night during a carjacking in Bay Shore. The defendants allegedly dragged Ortiz Ponce from his car while he slept, assaulted him, and took his vehicle.
Ortiz Ponce fled on foot to a nearby gas station, where he attempted to hide. Prosecutors said Alvarenga then directed the group to locate, abduct, and kill him.
Surveillance footage captured the victim being forced at gunpoint into the BMW at the gas station. Authorities said Alvarenga led the group to a church parking lot, where the victim was beaten again.
Prosecutors said Alvarenga then ordered Perdomo to shoot Ortiz Ponce. He was shot multiple times as he attempted to crawl away, killing him.
After the shooting, the group fled in both vehicles, abandoning the Camaro in a wooded area in Smithtown and the BMW in Brentwood. Authorities said the defendants later returned to Alvarenga’s home by rideshare, where items taken from the victim’s wallet were divided.
Alvarenga was convicted on March 26, 2026, following a jury trial before Acting Supreme Court Justice Anthony S. Senft Jr. She was found guilty of first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping, second-degree robbery, and fourth-degree conspiracy.
Perdomo previously pleaded guilty in September 2025 to first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping, second-degree robbery, and criminal possession of a weapon. He was later sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. Prosecutors said five adolescent co-defendants also pleaded guilty, and all participants in the crime have now been sentenced.
District Attorney Tierney said the killing stemmed from a minor dispute that escalated into a coordinated act of violence.
The case was prosecuted by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office Homicide Bureau, following an investigation by Suffolk County Police homicide detectives.
