Arrest Made in Mount Kisco Day Laborer’s Death
Westchester County police announced Tuesday the arrest of a 34-year-old Mount Kisco man in the killing of a day laborer who was found in a wooded area late Sunday.
Freddy Coronado-Mendez was charged with first-degree manslaughter in the death of Jose Sanchez, 53, following his capture in Harrison, N.J., said county Police Commissioner George Longworth during a press conference at police headquarters in Mount Kisco.
Sanchez’s body was discovered shortly before 8 p.m. on July 5 in the woods off of Lieto Drive. The cause of death was blunt force trauma following an altercation between the two men, Longworth said. He did reveal what may have triggered the dispute.
Longworth said the investigation led police to Coronado-Mendez, who fled Mount Kisco immediately after the incident by train and went to New Jersey. It is believed the suspect, who had been previously deported twice to his native Guatemala and had an extensive rap sheet in the U.S., was making plans to leave the region, he said.
“I can tell you he was surprised when Westchester County police met him there and took him into custody,” Longworth said.
Police said Coronado-Mendez and Sanchez, a landscaper who came from Honduras, knew each other because the area is a popular place for day laborers and others to congregate and socialize. Although Sanchez had no known Mount Kisco address, he has relatives living in the village.
A female relative of Sanchez, whose relationship to the victim was not revealed, went looking for him in the woods off Lieto Drive when he went missing for nearly a full day, police said. The woman searched there because she knew it was a known gathering place and discovered the body, Longworth said. She immediately came to the police station to report the death at 8:03 p.m. on Sunday, police said.
On Tuesday afternoon, Coronado-Mendez was still in New Jersey awaiting extradition to New York. Westchester County police detectives and the Harrison, N.J. Police Department worked together to apprehend Coronado-Mendez.
Police are also working with federal immigration authorities on the case.
The investigation was the first high-profile Mount Kisco police case since the June 1 merger of the village force with the county’s Department of Public Safety. Accompanying Longworth and lead detectives to make the announcement was County Executive Rob Astorino and Mount Kisco Mayor Michael Cindrich.
Astorino said the additional resources of the county and the knowledge and familiarity that the former Mount Kisco officers, who are now part of the county force, have with the community combined for a swift arrest. Coronado-Mendez was in custody by Monday night, roughly 24 hours after Sanchez’s body was discovered.
“I want to commend Commissioner Longworth and the Department of Public Safety for the outstanding job that they did in this investigation that led to a very fast and successful conclusion,” Astorino said.
Cindrich said when the village board sought to merge police services with the county, this was the type of “immediate, effective and efficient” policing they anticipated.
“It’s a level of police services that I expect the people of Mount Kisco to enjoy for many, many years to come,” Cindrich said.
Longworth said the investigation will continue to determine if there were any other individuals involved.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
