By Holly Crocco
No motive has yet been determined in the fatal shooting that took place in the Baldwin Place area of Somers last week, which left one teenager dead, his brother and mother wounded, and which sparked an overnight manhunt in the Putnam Valley area for the suspect who was later determined to be an illegal immigrant.
According to police reports, 13-year-old Mattew Raimondi called his grandparents at about 11:30 p.m. Oct. 28 to say that his mother’s boyfriend was “hurting her.” They arrived at the residence – an apartment complex on Route 6 – shortly after, to find the boyfriend, Fernando Jimenez, age 40, exiting the apartment. He allegedly pointed a gun at them before running off.
The grandparents entered the apartment to find that Matthew, as well as his 15-year-old brother, Michael, and their mother, Christina, age 38, had all been shot in the head.
Michael succumbed to his injuries, while Matthew and Christina were taken to local hospitals for treatment.
New York State Police immediately began a manhunt in northern Westchester and southwestern Putnam County, which stretched into Thursday morning. During this time, Jimenez was believed to be in the Peekskill Hollow Road area in Putnam Valley, and believed to be armed.
Nearby residents were asked to check home security cameras, and anyone with information was directed to call 911.
The Putnam Valley Central School District operated on a two-hour delay the following morning, and the Mahopac Central School District initiated a lockout until the suspect was apprehended.
After a 12-hour search, an astute business owner in Putnam Valley reported some out-of-sort surroundings, leading to Jiminez’s capture.
According to CBS News, retired NYPD Det. Patricia Schiller, who was aware of police searching for a suspect in the area, arrived at her real estate office near 299 Peekskill Hollow Road on Tuesday morning and noticed the window air conditioning unit was knocked out, the blinds were adjusted, and she could hear heavy breathing.
She approached one of the troopers canvassing the area to report the suspicious conditions, and officers surrounded the office with police dogs and found Jiminez in a back bathroom.
Jimenez was arraigned in Somers Town Court, charged with second-degree murder, two counts of second-degree attempted murder, and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, all felonies. According to CBS News, he did not enter a plea.
Police say the handgun used was possessed illegally.
Jimenez was remanded to Westchester County Jail without bail, with a court date of Nov. 4.
In the meantime, the community mourns the loss of a local youth and the devastation to his family.
Michael was a 10th-grader at Somers High School, while Matthew is an eighth-grader in the same district. Both boys and their mother enrolled in the Westchester county Police Department Cadet program.
According to a statement from Westchester County Public Safety Commissioner Terrance Raynor and the Westchester County Police, Michael and Matthew both joined the Cadet program earlier this month. When their mother brought them to sign them up, she expressed how excited they were to participate and how they wanted to learn about law enforcement work and careers.
“Both boys are also known to several of our officers who serve as SROs in Somers schools,” they said. “We join with the Raimondi family and friends in grieving Michael’s death and we stand with the Somers school community in support of Matthew and Christina during this tragic time. We remain in touch with family members and will support them however we can.”
A GoFundMe page has been created to support the family financially.
A day after the arrest, a New York Post article reported that Jimenez is an illegal immigrant who allegedly snuck back into the country after being deported. The Chilean national was deported 20 years ago after being seized at the U.S. border in California.
According to Immigration & Customs Enforcement, Jimenez was arrested Aug. 11, 2004, in Tecate, Calif., and claimed he was a Mexican native with a different name. He was voluntarily deported to Mexico, but re-entered the U.S. “at some point,” per the NY Post.
He was arrested for drunk-driving in 2018 in Yonkers and released with a $500 fine. “According to sources, he was also charged with assault that year but the case was sealed so details are not available,” reads the article.
ICE lodged an immigration detainer Oct. 30 with the Westchester County Jail, where Jimenez is being held, requesting that he be held instead of being released for 48 hours to allow federal agents to take him into custody.
“A spokesperson for Westchester County insisted that ‘we work cooperatively with ICE,’ but did not say if the detainer would be honored,” reads the NY Post article.
Westchester County is a “sanctuary state,” having passed the Immigrant Protection Act in 2018, essentially declaring that it will not cooperate with federal immigration authorities based on a suspect’s national origin.
“This is one of the reasons Putnam County is a ‘rule of law county,’ not a ‘sanctuary county,’” said County Executive Kevin Byrne. “This is why we cooperate with federal immigration and law enforcement. If we had a secure southern border, if authorities had been informed of this individual’s criminal past, then perhaps this awful tragedy could have been avoided. Thank you to our brave men and women in law enforcement who captured this monster in Putnam.”
Assemblyman Matt Slater, R-Yorktown, called the murder and attempted murders a “devastating consequence of New York’s sanctuary policies.”
“To say I am outraged and heartbroken over the tragic and senseless murder of an innocent New Yorker by an illegal immigrant who had no right to be here in the first place would be a huge understatement,” he said. “This tragedy took place 3 miles from my house. It should make every resident sick knowing the suspect was arrested in 2018 and released because of Westchester County’s sanctuary policies that were approved earlier that year… This must end. Our communities are not dumping grounds for illegal criminals, and our residents should not have to live in fear because of failed policies that ignore the security and welfare of Americans.”
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