WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. – Emmanuel Valentin Perez, a 21-year-old from Mount Vernon, was sentenced on Thursday to 10 years in state prison for the fatal shooting of Manuel Salazar, a 32-year-old father of two from Sleepy Hollow.
Perez pleaded guilty to Manslaughter in the First Degree and Assault in the Second Degree, both felonies, and is subject to five years of post-release supervision.
The incident occurred on June 28, 2021, at about 9:32 p.m. in Margotta Courts Park, Sleepy Hollow. Perez, then 18, shot Salazar once in the abdomen with a Lorcin pistol during a confrontation. Salazar was transported to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, where he was pronounced dead. A second victim was also wounded in the incident.
The Sleepy Hollow Police Department, with assistance from various local and federal agencies, conducted an investigation.
Utilizing surveillance footage, ballistics evidence, and witness interviews, detectives were able to recover the weapon and identify Perez as the shooter. He was apprehended the following day outside his Mount Vernon home.
