Guilty: Jury Returns Murder Verdict In 2022 White Plains Fatal Beating

WHITE PLAINS, NY —A Westchester County jury has returned a guilty verdict in a savage beating on a White Plains street.

Westchester County District Attorney Susan Cacace announced on Monday that a jury has found 27-year-old Jare Diaz, of White Plains, guilty of second-degree murder for beating Otoniel Guzman-Desdicho to death in 2022.

"I am grateful for the jury's verdict and for the diligent work of our prosecutorial team, which brought about this just result," Cacace said. "The merciless beating of Mr. Guzman-Desdicho left him mangled and unrecognizable on a cold November night. This kind of violence can never become a normal part of daily life in Westchester."

On Nov. 26, 2022, at 11:30 p.m., 38-year-old Guzman-Desdicho was walking in White Plains when he encountered Diaz, whom he knew. After they briefly spoke, Diaz punched and kicked Guzman-Desdicho in the head more than 30 times, in an unprovoked attack.

The district attorney said that the attack left Guzman-Desdicho "lifeless and unrecognizable on the pavement," just a few blocks away from the Westchester County Court. He was taken to Westchester Medical Center, where he was declared brain dead.

Diaz is scheduled for sentencing on March 27 by Westchester County Court Judge Maurice Dean Williams. The maximum potential sentence for second-degree murder is 25 years to life in state prison.

The case was investigated by the White Plains Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Cold Case Bureau Chief Daniel Flecha and Assistant District Attorney Brianna Ciuffi, of the Violent Criminal Enterprise Bureau.