Jurors find NY man guilty of fatally stabbing ex-girlfriend in her Long Island apartment
By APFriday, April 30, 2010
NY man convicted in ex-girlfriend’s stabbing death
NEW YORK — A 24-year-old New York man has been convicted in the torture and stabbing death of his estranged girlfriend in her Long Island apartment.
A Nassau County jury on Friday found Leonardo Valdez-Cruz guilty of first-degree murder and other charges in the death of Jo’Anna Bird. He faces a maximum life sentence in prison.
Prosecutors say Valdez-Cruz terrorized the 24-year-old mother of two for several months before breaking into her New Cassel apartment in March 2009 and fatally stabbing her. Police say he defied court orders to stay away from her.
His lawyer argued that evidence of a rocky relationship didn’t prove he killed her.
Seven Long Island police officers were disciplined for not fully investigating domestic violence calls made by Bird days before she was killed.
Information from: Newsday, www.newsday.com
