POUGHKEEPSIE – Twenty-five-year-old Sebastian Antonio Morataya Mendez has been sentenced to 25 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision for trying to kill his 17-year-old girlfriend with a rolling pin in April of last year. The defendant had entered a guilty plea to an assault charge for the attack and received his sentence on Wednesday before Dutchess County Court Judge Jessica Segal.
Mendez had planned to kill his girlfriend over suspected infidelity and then commit suicide.
Mendez confronted his girlfriend about text messages he found on her phone and began arguing. During the argument, he retrieved the heavy wooden rolling pin he bought for the attack and used it to hit the victim in the head several times. The beating took place in a Roosevelt Avenue apartment in Poughkeepsie in front of his two-year-old daughter and the victim’s four-year-old sister.
As a result of the attack, the victim sustained a depressed skull fracture that caused severe brain bleeding, brain swelling, and brain shifting. The victim underwent emergency surgery that day at which time doctors removed a quarter of her skull, to remove pressure and prevent her from dying.
After beating her unconscious, Mendez fled the scene in his car, and the City of Poughkeepsie police requested the assistance of the state police in locating him.
State police located and detained Morataya-Mendez without incident around 3 p.m. that day in the Town of Monroe in Orange County. Poughkeepsie police traveled to Monroe and took custody of him and impounded his vehicle.
Dutchess County District Attorney’s Office Major Crimes Bureau Chief Anthony Parisi was assigned the case on the day of the attack and carried it through to Wednesday’s sentencing. “Domestic violence is an abuse of power that tears apart the fabric of relationships and families and undermines the well-being of communities,” Parisi said. “It causes significant harm to the physical, emotional, and mental health of survivors and their families. It is my hope that this 25-year sentence sends the message to abusers that domestic violence will not be tolerated and also reinforces to victims that their safety matters and we will do everything we can to prevent future harm.”
April 13, 2023 – Source: Mid Hudson News