18-year-old pleads 'not guilty' in Yonkers fatal shooting of Francisco Gordillo

An 18-year-old Yonkers resident who pleaded not guilty Wednesday in the fatal shooting of a man inside a pickup truck last month first told police that the victim had shot himself and then acknowledged he had been holding the gun but that it went off accidentally.

Ludvin Ramos-Cervantes was arraigned in Westchester County Court on charges of second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon in the Feb. 26 killing of 51-year-old Francisco Gordillo.

More than a dozen of the victim's relatives were in court and afterward some spoke of the devastation his killing has caused.

"He was the paternal relative for all of us, he did so much for the whole family," said Gordillo's oldest nephew, Jairo Forero. "We all called him 'Papi Fico' ‒ he was like a father to everyone."

The victim and defendant did not know each other but had met that night. According to police they were in Gordillo's truck at Mount Carmel Place and Willow Street with two other men when they began arguing. Ramos-Cervantes left but soon returned with a .45 caliber handgun and is accused of shooting Gordillo in the back of the head shortly before 5 a.m.

Ramos-Cervantes went to a nearby building and when he came outside again a witness pointed him out to police, who had by then responded to the shooting. According to court documents filed with the indictment, he told an officer then that the gun was Gordillo's and that Gordillo was threatening to shoot himself. He claimed he and the other man tried to get the gun from Gordillo but he shot himself.

At headquarters three hours later, he changed his account, according to the documents.

He first told Detective Javier Sarmiento and Kujtim Rugova that the gun belonged to one of the other men in the car and that he asked to look at it. But then he told them he was "screwed", admitting it was his and that he'd bought it weeks earlier for $500. He claimed the men in the car wanted to buy it.

"I had the gun in my hand and the loading stick got stuck. The back part got stuck and it exploded," he said according to the documents.

Gordillo was the oldest of five siblings and had two daughters. He moved out of Nodine Hill years ago but remained attached to it, returning frequently to hang out with friends. He worked for a construction company but also did many side jobs, working on bodegas and barber shops in his old neighborhood.

All the occupants of the car were believed to have been drinking that night. Gordillo's relatives bemoaned the ease with which Ramon-Cervantes was able to get hold of a gun but also how he was served alcohol that night despite being underage.

Forero said he was not speaking for his whole family when he acknowledged that Ramon-Cervantes could eventually get some leniency because he had been drinking.

"I understand that people when they drink make very stupid decisions," he said. "An 18-year-old who doesn't know much about the world is going to make stupid decisions like that."

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Francisco Gordillo fatal shooting: Yonkers NY man pleads not guilty