A heartless Long Island gang leader was sentenced to life without parole Tuesday for ordering the kidnapping and murder of an motorist who fell asleep in front of her house.
Kayla Alvarenga, 23, was found guilty of ordering her Bay Shore-based gang, “Family Over Everything, Everybody Killed,” to drag sleeping 29-year-old Linver Ortiz Ponce from his car in March 2022 — then directing her goons to shoot him as he tried to crawl away in a church parking lot.
Ponce was a complete stranger who had pulled over to rest on a residential South Shore block after a night out, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney.
Kayla Alvarenga, 23, was sentenced to life without parole Tuesday for ordering her Bay Shore-based gang, “Family Over Everything, Everybody Killed,” to kill Linver Ortiz Ponce, 29. Suffolk County District Attorney's Office “A man is dead because he parked in front of the wrong house,” Tierney said Tuesday.
“[Alvarenga] orchestrated his kidnapping and murder, directed co-defendants to hunt him down, and used minors to get it done — the jury saw exactly what she did, and now she will spend the rest of her life in prison for it,” the DA added.
Judge Anthony Senft told Alvarenga she had displayed “zero respect for human life” and showed no remorse, Newsday reported. The gang leader declined to address the court or offer so much as an apology to the victim’s family, according to the outlet.
The senseless killing took place after Alvarenga spotted Ponce’s red Chevrolet Camaro parked in front of her Bay Shore home on Fifth Avenue.
She came outside demanding he move the car from in front of her house, but Ponce refused and a heated argument ensued just before midnight, according to the DA
Alvarenga then called Christopher Perdomo, 28 — who was apprehended in Georgia in May 2024 for his role in the murder — and three teenagers who were instructed to go to her house and forcibly remove Ponce from the front of her home, officials detailed.
The gang then pulled up shortly after in a luxury BMW that they had just carjacked from a young woman in Bay Shore just mere hours earlier, the DA said.
The four gangsters, instructed by Alvarenga, then dragged Ponce from his vehicle, mercilessly beat him and stole his Camaro. Ponce escaped and ran to a nearby gas station, the DA detailed.
But Alvarenga then ordered the gang to find, abduct and murder Ponce, officials said.
Surveillance footage from the gas station captured Alvarenga driving Ponce’s Camaro, waiting in the dark as her crew closed in and dragged him into the stolen car at gunpoint, authorities said.
Prosecutors said Perdomo pistol-whipped Ponce repeatedly during the ride to a nearby church parking lot, where Alvarenga gave the final order.
“Kill him,” she commanded Perdomo, who did exactly as told and shot Ponce four times as he tried to crawl away, according to prosecutors.
The gang then left Ponce’s body and fled to dump the stolen cars, officials said. They left the Camaro in a wooded area in Smithtown and abandoned the BMW in Brentwood before taking a rideshare back to Alvarenga’s house — where they divvied up the cash from Ponce’s wallet, according to the DA.
Perdomo is due back in court on May 12 for sentencing, where he is expected to be hit with 20 years in prison as part of a plea agreement.
Five of the adolescent co-defendants have also pleaded guilty, the DA said.
