On a summer afternoon in Haverstraw, New York, a dispute between two men escalated into a fatal encounter that ended the life of 29-year-old Cristian Alvarado of Pomona. The incident unfolded around 4:30 p.m. on July 1, 2024, near the intersection of Fairmount Avenue and West Street. Alvarado, a Hispanic male, was behind the wheel of his car when he was shot multiple times in the torso. The force of the impact caused him to lose control of his vehicle, which then crashed into a parked car.
First responders found him wounded and lying on the ground next to his vehicle. He was rushed to Nyack Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The investigation into Alvarado's death quickly pointed to 18-year-old Yandie Martinez as the primary suspect. Investigators determined that the shooting was not a random act of violence, but rather the result of a prior altercation between Alvarado and Martinez. Surveillance footage captured the two interacting before the situation turned deadly. It is alleged that as Alvarado attempted to drive away, Martinez approached the vehicle and fired multiple shots, fatally wounding him. Following the shooting, Martinez fled, sparking a multi-state manhunt.
The search for Martinez involved numerous law enforcement agencies, including local, state, and federal authorities. Investigators utilized social media to track him to an Airbnb in Piedmont, South Carolina. On July 29, 2024, members of the Greenville County Sheriff's Office apprehended Martinez without incident. He was subsequently extradited back to Rockland County, New York, to face charges.
Yandie Martinez was charged with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon. In a Rockland County courtroom, he pleaded not guilty to the charges. Prosecutors revealed that in his attempt to evade capture, Martinez changed his clothes at a nearby apartment after the shooting, switched phones, created new social media accounts, and shaved his head. It also came to light that a warrant for Martinez's arrest had been issued just days before the shooting for absconding from a juvenile detention center in upstate New York related to a prior arrest. Martinez is currently being held without bail. The victim's mother stated that her son was a husband and a father to two boys, and that he was in the area to see his son on the day he was killed.
