Yonkers Police Now Charge Suspect in Felony Murder Investigation

The beginning of last week started off on a tumultuous foot in Yonkers, New York as Yonkers Police received an early morning report about an injured male in a vehicle. When Yonkers Police arrived on the scene, the situation became much more grim and dangerous.

Yonkers Police Arrival on Scene and Investigation

Upon arrival at the scene, located in the area of Willow Street and Mount Carmel Place, Yonkers Police discovered the reported injured male victim in the vehicle, a red pickup truck with what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the head.

First responders on the scene immediately began life-saving procedures in an attempt to save the victim's life, but those efforts proved to be unsuccessful. The victim, identified as 51-year-old Francisco Gordillo was pronounced dead at an area hospital.

Law enforcement officials from numerous departments converged on the scene to begin an official investigation. Together Detectives from the Major Case Squad, Crime Scene Unit, and Digital Forensics Unit worked in an effort to figure out what exactly happened that led to someone losing their life.

According to the official news release from the Yonkers Police Department, investigators gathered information and discovered that the victim, Gordillo, had been in the vehicle with several other individuals at the time of the incident. It was one of those individuals who was later arrested for the crime.

The news release can be viewed on the Yonkers Police Department website (follow link above) or on the Yonkers Police Department's Facebook Page.

That individual was identified as 18-year-old Yonkers resident Ludvin Ramos-Cervantes. According to the report, Gordillo and Ramos-Cervantes were engaged in an argument prior to the incident. Ramos-Cervantes for a period of time had left the scene but when he returned he was armed with a .45 caliber firearm. He had fired one bullet from the weapon, that n=bullet being the one that struck Gordillo in the head. Ramos-Cervantes was arrested later the same day February 26, 2024, and he was charged with 2nd Degree Murder.

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Officials' Responses and Potential Penalties

Reaction to the news spread quickly and even garnered responses from the Mayor of Yonkers as well as the Yonkers Police Commissioner. Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano stated...

We don’t want to see anyone lose their lives to violence, especially in our City. I commend our Yonkers Police Department for making an arrest and hopefully helping to bring this family some closure.

Police Commissioner Christopher Sapienza followed by stating...

Regardless of the severity of a dispute, escalating the situation by introducing a weapon and resorting to violence is never acceptable

The Commissioner would go on to echo the Mayor's sentiments towards every member of law enforcement who played a role in the investigation and commending them for "...their hard work, as always, in finding the facts surrounding an incident, apprehending the person accountable, and delivering them to the justice system".

The case will be prosecuted by the Westchester County District Attorney's Office. Currently, Ramos-Cervantes has only been charged with the crime of 2nd Degree Murder but if found guilty, he stands to serve a hefty sentence.

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In the state of New York, Murder in the 2nd Degree is considered a class 1-A felony, meaning definite jail time. A guilty sentence could see Ramos-Cervantes behind bars for a minimum of 15-40 years.