A man who killed a New York woman whose body was found in a suitcase dumped in Connecticut is remorseful for what he did to her and the pain he inflicted on her family, according to new court documents filed Wednesday by lawyers for Javier Da Silva.
Da Silva pleaded guilty to a federal kidnapping charge last year in the 2019 killing of his ex-girlfriend, 24-year-old Valerie Reyes of New Rochelle, New York.
He told investigators that he and Reyes were having sex at her New Rochelle apartment when “at some point she fell to the floor and hit her head,” prosecutors said in a federal complaint. Da Silva then said he put packing tape over Reyes’ mouth, bound her legs and hands and put her in a suitcase that he later put in her car, the complaint said.
Her body was found in a suitcase dumped in Greenwich.
She was barefoot, her shirt was unbuttoned and her hands were bound behind her back with a white string and packing tape, the complaint said.
Da Silva is facing 30 years to life in prison. Sentencing is set for Sept. 23.
