Man sentenced to life without parole in killing of EMT Yadira Arroyo

The man convicted of brutally killing Emergency Medical Technician Yadira Arroyo six years ago was sentenced to life in prison without parole Wednesday.

Jose Gonzalez, 31, was given the maximum sentence for killing the 44-year-old mother of five after he stole her ambulance and ran over her twice on March 16, 2017 in the Bronx. A jury convicted Gonzalez of first-degree murder in March following a month-long trial.

In a statement, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said that the sentencing “closes a long and

difficult chapter for the victim’s family and her FDNY colleagues, who have waited for justice

for six years. Despite the sentencing, Yadi will forever be missed by her loved ones, and the pain will always be there. We take comfort in knowing that her memory will live on through her loved ones and the communities she served while working as an EMT for 14 years.”

Alida Acevedo, Arroyo’s aunt, and Monique Williams, Arroyo’s partner, who has since retired from the department, made emotional impact statements in court, which was packed with EMTs and Arroyo’s family members.

Arroyo’s family was gifted the handcuffs used on Gonzalez while he was in court, which were inscribed. “It says, ‘In memory of FDNY EMT Yadira Arroyo,’ ” Acevedo said during a press conference outside of the courthouse following the sentencing. “This means a lot to us.”

Gonzalez, who was high on PCP and marijuana at the time, read an apology to the family, adding that he “never meant to hurt anyone.”

But Bronx Supreme Court Justice Martin Marcus said that it was impossible to “overstate the horrific nature of the crime.”

Prosecutors said that Gonzalez, who was 25 at the time, had been joyriding on the back of Arroyo’s ambulance, then jumped off near the intersection of Watson Avenue and White Plains Road in the Soundview section of the Bronx and tried to steal a backpack from a young man, who then flagged down the vehicle.

Arroyo and Williams intervened, and Arroyo and Gonzalez struggled briefly before he jumped into the driver’s seat of the ambulance and put the vehicle into reverse, running over Arroyo. He then drove forward, pinning her under the vehicle, before jumping a curb and hitting a parked car. An off-duty MTA police officer, with the help of several civilians, tackled and handcuffed Gonzalez after he tried to run away. 

Gonzalez later tested positive for PCP and marijuana. He had previously been arrested 31 times, for infractions including robbery, criminal mischief, assault, jumping turnstiles, selling marijuana and public lewdness.

Justice prevailed

Gonzalez, who was diagnosed as schizophrenic, was found psychologically unfit to stand trial in May 2022. But health professionals at Mid-Hudson Forensic Psychiatric Center reversed that decision in September.

“The trial was delayed time and time again because of hearings regarding the defendant’s 

mental fitness to stand trial. But in the end, justice prevailed,” Clark said outside of Bronx Supreme Court following the sentencing. 

Oren Barzilay, the president of FDNY EMS Local 2507, said during the press conference that “Yadira Arroyo served our city as a hero, and she died as a hero.”

“This is a moment many of us thought to be far out of reach for years. Now that a sentence has finally been issued, it’s a blessing to know that Yadira’s family and colleagues can be at peace,” he said in a statement. “She was a light in the EMS family taken too soon. It is a relief to finally have justice.”

Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh stated that Arroyo “was an extraordinary EMT who cared for her patients deeply – just as she was doing when she was brutally killed six years ago. We are grateful her killer will never be on the streets again, with no eligibility for parole.”

clewis@thechiefleader.com