Bay Shore Man Pleads Guilty To Strangulating, Murder Of Women: DA

BAY SHORE, NY — A Bay Shore man pleaded guilty on Wednesday, for his 2021 strangulation murder of a woman and the strangulation of another woman in 2020, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced.

Darren Mansfield, 23, was charged with first-degree manslaughter and second-degree strangulation, officials said. He also pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon in the in an unrelated incident, Tierney said.

He is expected to receive 30 years in prison.

On November 22, 2020, Mansfield was on a date with a woman at the Bay Shore Marina, when he placed her in a headlock.

He applied such force to her neck that he caused petechiae — or pinpoint, round spots that appear on the skin as a result of bleeding to both her eyes and mouth — as well as severe swelling and bruising to both of her eyes, according to the evidence established in the case.

In April 2021, Mansfield was out on bail after he had been arrested and indicted for the strangulation of the first woman. At this time, the family of Frania Espinal, 22, who had been dating Mansfield, reported her missing to the Suffolk County Police Department.

On or about April 10, 2021, video evidence showed Mansfield and Espinal entering his Heckscher Avenue apartment in Bay Shore, prosecutors said.

Espinal was never seen alive again. Her family thereafter reported her as missing, causing law enforcement to begin an investigation into her disappearance.

Mansfield was arrested after stating to a friend that he strangled someone and had the body in his residence, officials said.

Officers found Espinal's body wrapped in a tarp in the bedroom of the residence, after executing a search warrant on at Mansfield’s home. The Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide, with the cause of death being strangulation.

Espinal had multiple injuries including blunt force trauma to her head, multiple hemorrhages to her neck and a fracture of the thyroid cartilage, prosecutors said.

“The violence this defendant used against these two women is unimaginable. One of the victims, while severely injured, managed to escape with her life, but the other was not as fortunate. Her life was senselessly taken from her, and her loved ones must bear that loss,” said Tierney. “Enough is enough. A 30-year sentence is the only appropriate punishment for the brutality of these acts and to ensure that the public is protected against this individual.”

Mansfield is scheduled to be sentenced on May 10.

Gerald Carter, Mansfield's attorney, told Patch he has no comments at this time.