Defendant Pleaded Guilty to Second-Degree Murder
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a Bronx man has been
sentenced to 15 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to killing his ex-girlfriend’s new
boyfriend.
District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant entered his ex-girlfriend’s home through the
bedroom window and shot the victim, who was trying to help the woman escape. As the victim
lay on the floor, the defendant shot him again in the head. I hope the victim’s family and the
witness to this horrific crime will have a measure of justice with this prison sentence.”
District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Angel Freites, 29, of 2020 Grand Avenue, was
sentenced today to 15 years to life in prison by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Steven Hornstein.
The defendant pleaded guilty to second-degree Murder on November 14, 2019.
According to the investigation, at about 9 p.m. on June 20, 2018, the defendant entered the
fourth-floor apartment where his ex-girlfriend lived, at 1801 University Avenue, through the
bedroom window. Inside the bedroom he saw the victim, Lennin Taveras, 30, with the woman,
and demanded to know why she brought a man into the house. The victim urged his girlfriend to
run and Freites shot him multiple times, including once in the chest and one shot to the temple.
The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. After Freites shot Taveras he forced his exgirlfriend to come with him to 2020 Grand Avenue, where the defendant was staying with his
family members. The defendant then fled, and she called 911. The defendant turned himself in to
authorities on July 6, 2018.
District Attorney Clark thanked Detective Stephanie Cepeda of the
46th Precinct and Detective Sean Butler of Bronx Homicide for their assistance in the
investigation.
