Rony Yahir Alvarenga-Rivera, of Valley Stream, fatally stabbed 2 women dozens of times, prosecutors say

A fast-food worker from Valley Stream told police last month that he stabbed his uncle’s girlfriend 50 times for walking loudly in high heels on the floor above where they lived and laughing about it, Nassau County prosecutors said Tuesday at his murder arraignment.

Rony Yahir Alvarenga-Rivera, 22, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder in front of Supreme Court Justice Robert Schwartz.

Nassau County Assistant District Attorney Alex DePalo told the court that after killing 32-year-old Eddy Raquel Hernández Castillo on April 30 around midnight in the house that they shared with his uncle in Valley Stream, Alvarenga-Rivera killed again.

Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said that they had been living under the same roof for about six months and Alvarenga Rivera had complained about the high heels before.

He took the Long Island Rail Road to the Island Park Wendy’s, where he worked with Ana María Del Águila Córdova, 42, of Long Beach, and waited 20 minutes for her to take out the garbage, DePalo said.

Alvarenga-Rivera attacked the co-worker, the prosecutor said, fatally stabbing her 30 times at approximately 12:30 a.m. and leaving her to die near the fast food restaurant dumpsters.

He felt that Del Águila Córdova had “disrespected him in some way or made fun of his girlfriend,” Donnelly said after the hearing.

Alvarenga-Rivera left the two knives he had allegedly used to kill the two women and two cellphones behind when he fled the scene. Del Águila Córdova leaves behind two children, ages 8 and 1½.

Later that morning, around 3 a.m., police responded to a 911 call from a Lynbrook 7-Eleven worker and found Alvarenga-Rivera covered in blood with cuts on his hands.

He confessed to the Lynbrook police and then to Nassau County homicide detectives and was arrested on May 1, authorities said.

“Rony Yahir Alvarenga-Rivera’s anger over petty disagreements boiled over into the alleged murders of two innocent women,” Donnelly said. “The sheer brutality of these deranged and unprovoked attacks has shattered two families. Our thoughts are with them as we prosecute this case.”

The judge remanded Alvarenga-Rivera into the custody of the county jail. He’s originally from El Salvador and came to this country as an "unaccompanied minor" in 2016 when he was 12 years old.

Defense attorney Megan Jungmi Rha said that she would reserve her right to make a bail application in the future. She declined to comment after the Tuesday arraignment.

Avarenga-Rivera is scheduled to return to court on July 8. He faces up to life in prison if convicted.