A 56-year-old man has pleaded guilty to gunning down his ex-girlfriend's 19-year-old nephew inside a NYCHA apartment in East Harlem, admitting he opened fire during an argument and wounded the woman herself as the teenager tried to shield her. Jose Rodriguez entered his plea in New York State Supreme Court to murder, attempted murder, burglary and weapons possession, closing out a case that began with a predawn confrontation at the Jefferson Houses in April 2024.
A Predawn Argument Turns Deadly
According to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, Rodriguez went to his ex-girlfriend's apartment in the New York City Housing Authority's Jefferson Houses, near East 112th Street and Third Avenue, at approximately 3:00 a.m. on April 10, 2024. The two got into an argument inside the apartment, and she asked him to leave. Her nephew, Ramon Alvarez, then stepped into the dispute between his aunt and Rodriguez.
Rodriguez pulled out a firearm and shot Alvarez in the abdomen, prosecutors said, then turned and fired a shot toward his ex-girlfriend, grazing her shoulder. Alvarez was rushed to Harlem Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery before being pronounced dead later that day. Rodriguez fled the scene and was arrested the following day in the Bronx, per the same office's account.
Who Was Ramon Alvarez
Alvarez was 19 and lived in the apartment where he was shot, according to the New York Daily News. The newspaper reported that he worked for the city's Department of Parks & Recreation and was working toward his GED at the time of his death. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Alvarez was, in his words, “brutally murdered while trying to protect his aunt from her ex-boyfriend,” according to the district attorney's office.
Bragg also said, per the same office, that Rodriguez shot Alvarez and then shot at his ex-girlfriend, who survived and witnessed the killing. The district attorney framed the plea as holding Rodriguez accountable for actions that devastated the family, the office said.
Guilty Plea and the Charges He Faced
Rodriguez pleaded guilty to one count each of murder in the second degree, attempted murder in the second degree, burglary in the first degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office said. That resolves a case that had earlier produced an indictment charging him with two counts each of second-degree murder, first-degree burglary and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, along with one count of attempted second-degree murder, according to the same office. At the time that indictment was announced, prosecutors noted the charges were allegations and that Rodriguez was presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Rodriguez is expected to be sentenced to a promised term of 18 years to life in state prison on December 15, the district attorney's office said. The office credited the New York City Police Department in the investigation, including Sergeant Tyesha McCloud, now of the 25th Precinct and formerly of the 23rd Precinct detective squad, Detective William Dunn of the 23rd Precinct detective squad, and Detective Joseph Rivera of the regional fugitive task force.
In a post on X, Bragg's office wrote: “Today we announced the guilty plea of Jose Rodriguez for attempting to shoot his 38-year-old ex-girlfriend and fatally shooting her 19-year-old nephew, Ramon Alvarez, in East Harlem.”
Inside the Prosecution Team
The case was handled within the district attorney's Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Bureau, led by Chief Vanessa Puzio and Deputy Chief Austin Minogue, with Assistant District Attorney Kaitlyn Laurie and Investigative Analyst Libby Ix also assisting, the district attorney's office said. Justin McNabney, chief of the Special Victims Division and executive assistant district attorney, oversaw the broader effort. Counselors from the office's Survivor Services Bureau also assisted the prosecution, along with former Assistant District Attorney Charlotte Armour and former investigative analysts Eva Nikitovic and Katherine Burke.
The case echoes another recent Manhattan-linked prosecution: the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office announced in late September that a Manhattan man who broke into his ex-girlfriend's Brooklyn home and killed her new boyfriend was sentenced to life in prison, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office. Bragg has described his office's approach in such cases as delivering, in his words, one standard of justice for all.
