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Feb. 21-27, 2020
Flushing man pleads guilty to 2016 kidnapping
Mayor Bill de Blasio dined with community leaders in Flushing in an effort to promote local businesses and restaurants in Flushing
amind the coronavirus scare. See story on Page 3. Photo : Carlotta Mohamed/QNS
Vol. 29 No. 8 52 total pages
BY JENNA BAGCAL
A Flushing man is pleading
guilty to kidnapping charges
a year after he was accused of
killing his ex-girlfriend and
stuffing her in a suitcase.
In February 2019, police arrested
Javier Da Silva in connection
with the murder of New
Rochelle resident Valerie Reyes.
A Greenwich, Connecticut highway
worker found Reyes’ body
bound at the hands and feet inside
of a suitcase on the side of a
local road.
According to recent reports,
court records showed that 25-
year-old Da Silva pleaded guilty
on Feb. 5 in the U.S. District
Court in White Plains, New
York. If convicted on the federal
charge of kidnapping, he faces
30 years to life in prison.
Surveillance footage showed
Da Silva leaving his Flushing
apartment on Jan. 28 wearing
an all black outfit and driving a
black Honda CR-V. Court documents
placed Da Silva and the
black Honda near Reyes’ apartment
a few hours later in the
early morning of Jan 29.
Reyes’ mother, father and
then-boyfriend had reported
her missing on Jan. 30, after she
failed to show up for her job at a
local Barnes and Noble.
Days later, New Rochelle police
arrested Da Silva after he
was found withdrawing $1,000
using Reyes’ ATM card. But new
information from the U.S. Court
of the Southern District of New
York showed that Da Silva stole
approximately $5,350 from her
account and sold Reyes’ iPad
days after her death.
“As he admitted today in
court, Javier Da Silva committed
a horrid kidnapping that resulted
in the tragic death of Valerie
Reyes, a young woman with
her entire adult life ahead of
her,” wrote U.S. Attorney Geoffrey
S. Berman in a statement.
Da Silva claimed that he and
Reyes had sex in her New Rochelle
apartment and she “fell to
the floor and hit her head.”
According to the criminal
complaint, Da Silva then used
packing tape to bind her mouth
and limbs before putting her unconscious
body in a suitcase. He
allegedly packed the suitcase in
his car and left her body in “a
forest,” which led to her dying
by suffocation.
Reyes’ family confirmed that
the pair had dated but broke up
in 2018, about a year before the
young woman’s death.
According to Immigration
and Customs Enforcement
agents, Da Silva was a citizen
of both Venezuela and Portugal
but overstayed his visa at the
time the crime was committed.
Da Silva’s sentencing date is
May 21, 2020.
MAYOR VISITS FLUSHING
/QNS.COM
