Hempstead man sentenced to 20 years to life in killing of girlfriend

A Hempstead man who fatally strangled his girlfriend last year before slitting her throat and his wrist to try to fake a double suicide attempt is heading to prison for 20 years to life, prosecutors said Friday.

Acting State Supreme Court Justice Helene Gugerty sentenced Sixto Tapia-Angeles on Friday after his September guilty plea to murdering Maria Rodriguez-Perez during a domestic dispute in the 19-year-old woman’s Hempstead home.

Police previously said the couple had been dating for 18 months but their relationship soured before the killing because Tapia-Angeles, now 28, became suspicious about Rodriguez-Perez possibly being unfaithful to him and talking to other men.

Tapia-Angeles strangled the victim to death during a fight and then used a razor to slit her throat and inflict wounds to his wrist and forearm before calling 911 to say he was "dying," according to law enforcement officials.

Police said they found the couple in bed when they got to the Harriman Avenue home on the night of March 21, 2020, with the victim dead and partly covered by a sheet and Tapia-Angeles bearing superficial wounds he said were self-inflicted.

The defendant initially told police his girlfriend killed herself, but he later admitted he had choked her until she stopped moving and then slit her throat to try to make her death look like suicide, prosecutors said Friday.

Nassau Acting District Attorney Joyce Smith said in a statement that the defendant’s "haphazard and brutal plan" to try to deceive authorities after killing his girlfriend had failed and now he would face punishment.

Court records show a felony charge of tampering with physical evidence was dropped as part of Tapia-Angeles' plea deal when he admitted to second-degree murder.

The defendant's Mineola attorney, Andrew Monteleone, declined to comment on the case after Friday’s sentencing but said Tapia-Angeles had apologized to the victim’s family in court.