A Newburgh man is heading to the big house for killing a young woman at motel in New Windsor and then hiding her dead body – all after burglarizing another motel room with three high school girls inside.
Matthew Mercado, age 40 of Newburgh, was sentenced to state prison in Orange County Court today for killing Jessica Lopez, age 36 of the City of Newburgh, in 2019. He was sentenced to 16 to 19 years in state prison for his crimes.
The sentencing judge told Mercado that he was “a sociopath, a manipulator and a killer.”
Mercado’s crime-filled night began on November 3, 2019, at approximately 1:36am, when he burglarized a motel room that adjoined to his room. At the time of the burglary, the room was occupied by three female high school students. The girls reported that whey were in bed and awoke to Mercado stealing a handbag and book bag.
Later that morning, at approximately 5:00am, Mercado and Lopez were alone inside of Room 33 of the Windsor Motel, located on Route 9W in New Windsor. Mercado gave Lopez a variety of illegal narcotics and drugs. Mercado observed Lopez having a severe adverse reaction to the drugs, but failed to obtain medical aid for her. Instead, Mercado kept Lopez concealed inside the motel room while she died.
Mercado admitted that he knowingly failed to obtain medical treatment for her and knew she could die from the drugs. Mercado said he realized that Lopez could have survived if she received prompt medical care. He confessed that his own actions caused Lopez’s death. Under New York State’s Good Samaritan Law, Mercado could not have been charged with giving Lopez the drugs if he had promptly sought medical attention for her.
Mercado admitted that he wrapped Lopez’s lifeless body in a sheet with tape and hid her underneath a platform bed in the motel room. Police were in the room while Lopez’s body was still there, but they were investigating Mercado’s burglary next door and were not yet aware of Lopez’s death.
Later that day, at approximately 4:46pm, Mercado removed Lopez’s body from the motel room, placed her in the trunk of her own car, and hid her body so it could not be found by police
Mercado admitted to disposing Lopez’s body in a particular dumpster in Newburgh. Information obtained during the investigation from cellular telephone records and recordings indicated that the dumpster Mercado identified was likely where he disposed of Lopez’s body.
An extensive search was made at the time at the Pennsylvania landfill which accepted the contents of that dumpster. During the investigation, Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler responded to Lackawanna County and spoke with their district attorney to facilitate the search. Hoovler was also at the landfill when police officers and cadaver dogs searched for Lopez. Unfortunately, despite those efforts, it is unlikely Lopez’s remains will ever be recovered.
“This defendant admitted killing Jessica Lopez by giving her the illegal drugs and then preventing her from the receiving medical care which likely would have saved her,” Hoovler declared. “We will never know exactly what happened to Ms. Lopez due to his cruel actions in hiding her body from her family and the police and tampering with other evidence.”
Hoovler explained that Mercado has a history of violence against female intimate partners. “On November 3, 2019, he added four more women to his list of victims,” he said. “One of those women did not survive her dealings with the defendant. I hope that this disposition provides some measure of closure to that remarkable young woman’s grieving family, friends, and former students.”
On August 25, 2022, Mercado pled guilty to Manslaughter in the 2nd degree, Burglary in the 2nd degree, and Tampering with Physical Evidence.
Today’s prison sentence includes 7½ -15 years in prison on the charge of Manslaughter in the 2nd degree, which is the maximum sentence that can be imposed for this crime. Mercado was sentenced to 14 years in prison for the burglary, which will run concurrent to the manslaughter charge. He was sentenced to an additional 2-4 years for hiding her body, which will run consecutively to the manslaughter and burglary charges.
