Queens man gets 3 years in prison for fatally shoving elderly landlord down stairs
A Queens man who fatally shoved his elderly landlord down a flight of stairs was sentenced to three years in prison Wednesday — as the victim’s daughter told a judge through tears that her family is broken forever.
Alex Garces, 23, was caught on video by a Ring doorbell camera pushing Edgar Moncayo, 71, so hard down the front stairs of the Corona building that he slammed his head on the sidewalk in the Jan. 12, 2020, incident.
Garces was indicted in February 2020 and pleaded not guilty before admitting to the deadly shove in May — taking a three-year prison sentence plea deal on one count of second-degree assault.
Before Garces’ Queens Supreme Court sentencing Wednesday, Moncayo’s daughter, Lourdes Moncayo, emotionally recounted how her father’s death had impacted the family.
“He broke my family down forever,” Lourdes said as tears streamed down her face. “My mom’s life without my dad? I can’t explain.”
“What kind of a man does this? No respect for an older man, he was so irresponsible,” Lourdes continued. “That is done and my dad is gone forever.”
The grieving daughter also criticized the sentence, saying she felt it was too lenient.
“He is going away for three years? Thank God it is not up to me. Three years means nothing to me,” she said.
Garces, meanwhile, pleaded for the family’s forgiveness.
“I know I did irreparable damage,” Garces said through a Spanish translator. “I know asking for forgiveness can’t resolve the problem.”
“I am here to pay for all the damage I have done. I am asking from my heart that they can forgive me someday,” Garces added.
Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder said he was shocked by the level of remorse that Garces showed.
“Sitting in this courtroom the last 14 years on many murder cases much worse than this — I will tell you it is very rare to hear a defendant apologize and ask forgiveness from the family of the victim,” Holder said before handing down the agreed-upon sentence.
In the disturbing video, Moncayo and Garces can be heard exchanging words before the abrupt and forceful shove.
Garces initially told cops the fall was an accident that happened as he tried to carry his mattress out of the building and hit the front door, police sources said at the time.
