A Connecticut man pleaded guilty Thursday to gunning down a Yonkers father just weeks after his child was born, closing out a case that stalled for years after the shooter was declared mentally unfit to stand trial. Claismar Abreu-Then, now 32, admitted in Westchester County Court that he fatally shot Joseph Pichardo, 24, following an argument between the two men.
Abreu-Then pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on Sept. 24 in Westchester County Court, according to Lohud. As part of the plea, prosecutors offered him a sentence of 20 years to life. Pichardo, who had recently become a father, was shot multiple times on Jan. 17, 2021, in the first-floor hallway of 54 Fairview St. in Yonkers.
An Argument That Turned Deadly
Abreu-Then admitted fatally shooting Pichardo, an acquaintance, following an argument in Yonkers, per the outlet's report. Investigators previously said the two men knew each other and that the shooting stemmed from a disagreement between them, according to a separate Lohud report from 2024. No further detail on what sparked the confrontation has been made public.
Abreu-Then was arrested at his Hartford home four days after the shooting, the result of a joint investigation by Yonkers detectives, the FBI and Hartford police. Investigators recovered the gun believed to have been used in the killing from his home at the time of the arrest. He was indicted on charges of second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon in May 2021.
Case Stalled for Years Over Competency
The prosecution didn't move in a straight line to Thursday's plea. The case ground to a halt after the defense sought a psychiatric evaluation and Abreu-Then was deemed unfit to proceed, and he went on to spend three years in a state psychiatric facility as a result. His competency was restored in July 2024, and he remained in the county jail from that point until this week's plea.
Abreu-Then was 30 when he appeared in Westchester County Court in 2024 and is now 32. A judge has scheduled sentencing for Jan. 14, 2027, three days before the six-year anniversary of Pichardo's death.
