A man from Port Jefferson, New York, pleaded guilty Monday to the 2018 murder of a 27-year-old father of three after an argument in a pool hall turned physical.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney said in a press release that Alejandro Vargas-Diaz, 41, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the 2018 fatal shooting of Albert Luis Rodriguez-Lopez in Selden, New York.
Based on court documents and statements made during the guilty plea, Vargas-Diaz and Rodriguez-Lopez got into an argument on July 22, 2018, in a pool hall in Port Jefferson.
As the two claimed, Rodriguez-Lopez punched Vargas-Diaz in the face, the prosecutor’s office said, causing him to fall to the ground.
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Alejandro Vargas-Diaz pleaded guilty to the 2018 murder of a 27-year-old father of three after an argument in a pool hall turned physical. (Suffolk County District Attorneys Office)
After a short time, Vargas-Diaz retaliated by ambushing the victim in the billiard room and shooting him in the back, neck and shoulder.
Rodriguez-Lopez died at the scene and Vargas-Diaz fled the state.
Suffolk County Police Department detectives found the murder weapon nearly a month after the murder. The 9mm handgun was found in a tree on the Setauket Port Jefferson Greenway Trail, the district attorney’s office said.
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Suffolk County Police Department vehicle. A New York man who had been hiding in Florida was finally brought back to Suffolk County after three years and pleaded guilty to manslaughter. (Fox news)
A tip from Crime Stoppers helped detectives track Vargas-Diaz, who was eventually arrested on June 18, 2021, with the help of Florida’s Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
The suspect was extradited to Suffolk County, New York on November 11, 2021 to face murder charges.
On Monday, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon before Acting Supreme Court Justice Steven A. Pilewski.
Vargas-Diaz will be sentenced on September 13, 2023 and could receive a prison sentence of 23 years to life.
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“For five years, Mr. Rodriguez-Lopez’s relatives and loved ones have waited for justice for this senseless murder. Today, with his plea of guilt, justice has been served,” Tierney said. “While the defendant extended his freedom by hiding in another state, it was only a matter of time before the law caught up with him and now he is being held accountable for his actions.”
Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.
New York man who hid in Florida for three years pleads guilty to ‘senseless’ pool hall murder in 2018
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