DA VANCE: MAN WHO FATALLY STABBED HIS WIFE, LEFT HER BODY IN A CAR, SENTENCED TO 19 YEARS-TO-LIFE IN STATE PRISON
Last week, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., announced the sentencing of WILLIAM DAVILA, 48, to 19 years-to-life in state prison for fatally stabbing his estranged wife in an SUV parked on Essex Street in May 2008. On December 9, 2013, DAVILA pleaded guilty in New York State Supreme Court to the sole count of the indictment against him, Murder in the Second Degree.
“The death of Leonida Davila is another harrowing example of how quickly domestic violence can turn fatal,” said District Attorney Vance. “Not only did this defendant brutally kill Ms. Davila, but he fled the scene, leaving her body in a parked car to be found by strangers. I would like to thank my Office’s prosecutors who have dedicated themselves since 2008 to seeing justice done in this case. I would also urge anyone who is a victim of domestic violence to call my Office’s Domestic Violence Hotline at 212-335-4308 – help is available for those who need it.”
According to the defendant’s guilty plea and documents filed in court, on May 13, 2008, DAVILA fatally stabbed his estranged wife, 44-year-old Leonida Nunez Davila, multiple times in the throat and torso as she sat in an SUV on Essex Street in SoHo. DAVILA fled and the victim’s body was discovered in the car the next day. Police at the scene also found an Order of Protection for the victim against DAVILA in the car stemming from his 2007 Criminal Contempt in the Second Degree conviction in the Bronx. After evading police for two days, DAVILA surrendered to the 40th Precinct, where he was placed under arrest.
Assistant District Attorneys Robert Walker and Scott Leet handled the prosecution of this case, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Eugene Porcaro, Chief of Trial Bureau 30, and Executive Assistant District Attorney Karen Friedman-Agnifilo, Chief of the Trial Division. Supervising Rackets Investigator Mark Stewart and Senior Rackets Investigators Michael Minero, George Daley, and Reginald Barometre assisted with the case.
District Attorney Vance thanked Detective Ronnie Bibbins of the NYPD’s 7th Precinct.
Defendant Information:
WILLIAM DAVILA, D.O.B. 11/19/1965
New York, NY
Convicted:
- Murder in the Second Degree, a class A felony, one count
Sentenced:
- 19 years-to-life in state prison