By Jeremy Walsh
An Elmhurst teenager involved in a series of robberies in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in 2006 that left one man dead and another in a coma pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree murder and attempted murder, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
Yovanni Rivera, 19, formerly of 109-55 54th Ave., entered the plea before Queens Supreme Court Justice Arthur Cooperman, who set sentencing for Oct. 6. Rivera will probably be sentenced to 25 years to life in prison on the murder charge and a concurrent term of 25 years in prison on the attempted murder charge, Cooperman said.
Rivera's attorney, Russell Rothberg, declined to comment on the case.
On the evening of Dec. 4, 2006, Rivera approached Carlos Flores, 40, of Ridgewood as he was walking through the park, Brown said. Rivera robbed Flores of $20, his identification and MetroCard and attacked him with a machete, slashing his face and legs and gashing the back of his head, fatally wounding him, Brown said.
Flores' body was found half-submerged in a park pond near the Long Island Expressway and College Point Boulevard the following morning.
The second attack Rivera was charged with occurred on Christmas. Rivera and a co-defendant, Marcos Polanco, 19, of 108-02 43rd Ave. in Corona, approached 33-year-old Jae Woo Park, a while he was jogging through the park at approximately 6:45 p.m., Brown said.
The duo punched, kicked and stomped Park before robbing him of cash and the keys to his 2007 Honda van.
Park, a Little Neck resident and medical student, was found unconscious near the Unisphere. He suffered severe head trauma in the attack and is still in a coma.
Rivera suffered second- and third-degree burns to his face while trying to torch the stolen van, a police source said.
Polanco pleaded guilty to robbery in March, Brown said. He is expected to be given 20 years in prison when he is sentenced Sept. 26, the DA said.
A total of nine people were robbed in a series of attacks in the park starting in late November, including a 62-year-old man bicycling in the park and a 56-year-old man heading to his car, police said.
The robberies led to a public outcry and an increased police presence in the park.
Reach reporter Jeremy Walsh by e-mail at jwalsh@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 154.
