A Glen Cove man pleaded guilty Sept. 3 to murdering his estranged mother-in-law after she left a birthday celebration at a West Hempstead restaurant in September 2024, according to the Nassau County district attorney’s office.
Erick Corado Gonzalez, 29, pleaded guilty before Judge Caryn Fink to second-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder. He is due back in court Oct. 15 and is expected to be sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Prosecutors recommended a sentence of 30 years to life.
According to Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly, Gonzalez attacked 51-year-old Ana Espinoza in the parking lot of La Candela II after she attended her adult daughter’s birthday celebration at the West Hempstead restaurant.
“A family celebration turned tragic when this defendant ambushed his mother-in-law in a restaurant parking lot, put her in a headlock, and savagely stabbed her repeatedly in her neck and body, while the defendant’s two-year-old son watched,” Donnelly said. “Ana died a few hours later from her extensive injuries and blood loss. Gonzalez’s rage and unrepressed violence tore apart this family, robbing them of a mother and grandmother still very much in the prime of her life. Because of his ruthlessness, Gonzalez now forfeits his freedom and the chance to be a father to his young son.”
Donnelly said that on Sept. 28, 2024, Espinoza, her husband and other family members gathered at La Candela II to celebrate her daughter’s birthday. Gonzalez, who was estranged from Espinoza’s daughter, was not invited to the gathering.
Shortly after midnight on Sept. 29, as the group was leaving the restaurant and walking to their vehicles, Gonzalez approached Espinoza in the parking lot, prosecutors said.
Gonzalez stabbed Espinoza seven times in the torso, according to prosecutors. When her husband attempted to intervene, Gonzalez stabbed him in the hand.
Espinoza’s adult son also attempted to help his mother, but Gonzalez pointed what prosecutors described as an imitation pistol at him and threatened him not to follow him.
Gonzalez then fled the scene.
The attack occurred in front of Gonzalez’s 2-year-old son, according to prosecutors.
Espinoza and her husband were taken to Winthrop Hospital, where Espinoza was treated for hemorrhagic shock caused by stab wounds to her neck. She was pronounced dead at 3:58 a.m.
After the stabbing, Gonzalez fled the state and was arrested Sept. 29, 2024, in Linden, New Jersey, by local authorities. He was extradited to Nassau County on Oct. 22, 2024.
A knife was recovered from the restaurant parking lot, and an imitation pistol was recovered from Gonzalez’s vehicle, prosecutors said.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel Tracy Keeton of the Homicide Bureau under the supervision of Bureau Chief Michelle Lewisohn and Executive Assistant District Attorney for the Litigation Division Daryl Levy. Gonzalez is represented by Joseph LoPiccolo, Esq.
