A man in New York has been sent to prison for strangling his childhood friend to death at a 21st birthday party he arranged for her.
On June 18, 2024, Jhon Moises Chacaguasay-Ilbis invited his longtime friend Joselyn Toaquiza to a private celebration at an Airbnb in Syracuse, New York. The party included cake, gifts and wine bottles inscribed with "I love you," as reported by Syracuse.com.
However, the night took a deadly turn when Chacaguasay-Ilbis reportedly strangled Toaquiza to death, transported her body to Lincoln Park, and buried her in a shallow grave.
Surveillance footage captured him walking into the Airbnb with Toaquiza and later exiting alone, carrying her lifeless body.
In January, Chacaguasay-Ilbis pleaded guilty to murder charges. He was sentenced to 23 years to life in prison. Despite his guilty plea, he never provided a motive for the brutal killing, leaving the victim's family devastated and searching for answers.
In court on March 4, he expressed remorse, saying, "I feel really bad and ashamed," but Judge Ted Limpert dismissed the apology as hollow, calling the crime "inexplicable."
Prosecutors later revealed he had used Toaquiza's credit cards after her death for purchases including an OnlyFans subscription.
Toaquiza's family used funds raised by a GoFundMe campaign to transport her body back to Ecuador, where she was laid to rest. Meanwhile, the case has sparked debate over immigration policies, as both Chacaguasay-Ilbis and Toaquiza had crossed into the U.S. illegally within the year prior to the murder.
