A Riverhead man was sentenced to 22 years in prison for fatally stabbing another man near a busy traffic circle in Riverhead in broad daylight.
On June 6, 2023, at approximately 3:00 p.m., Gelber Lopez Perez was in Grangabel Park in Riverhead, arguing with a friend. When Tony Fernando Alvarado Ajcuc, 26, also of Riverhead, arrived at the park, he asked Lopez Perez and his friend why they were arguing. Lopez Perez and Alvarado Ajcuc then got into a physical altercation.
After the altercation, Alvarado Ajcuc left the park on foot, crossed four lanes of traffic on Nugent Drive, and headed toward a nearby traffic circle.
Lopez Perez ran after Alvarado Ajcuc and knocked him to the ground. As Alvarado Ajcuc laid on the ground in a defensive posture, Lopez Perez stabbed him with a knife. He then fled back toward the park.
An eyewitness took a photograph of Lopez Perez as he ran from the scene, which was later provided to the police. Alvarado Ajcuc was transported to Peconic Bay Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Less than a half-hour later, police found and arrested Lopez Perez near Court Street and Griffing Avenue, a short distance from where the stabbing occurred. Police also recovered the knife from Lopez Perez’s waistband that still had blood stains on it.
On June 27, 2024, Lopez Perez, 20, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter before Acting Supreme Court Justice Stephen L. Braslow. On September 10, 2024, Braslow sentenced Lopez Perez to 22 years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision.
“This defendant took a life in a brazen act of violence that occurred in full view of our community. Violence like this is unacceptable,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney. “Our thoughts remain with the victim’s family, and we hope that this resolution brings them some measure of closure.”