Malik Weems (Chemung County Jail)
A 19-year-old man from Pennsylvania admitted to his role this week in the gruesome torture and killing of a 38-year-old man in New York who was shot, burned, beaten, and stabbed in the eyes before being killed.
Malik Weems, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, appeared in Chemung County Court on Friday, where he pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder in the 2021 slaying of Juan Jose Gotay, Elmira NBC affiliate WETM reported.
In addition to Gotay’s murder, Weems reportedly pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree kidnapping in a separate case in April 2021.
Weems was arrested two years ago, and three others were allegedly involved in Gotay’s death: Thomas Boviard, Eddie Marte, and a boy who authorities said was 16 at the time of the murder.
Authorities have not released his name, but the three remaining defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges in Gotay’s murder.
Authorities said Gotay’s injuries before his death amounted to a clear-cut case of torture.
He was shot in the shoulder and leg, stuck in his eyes by a pointed instrument, suffered burns to his ears and buttocks, suffered mutilation to his tongue, was kicked and beaten, and suffered broken ribs and fingers, authorities said. The kidnappers brought him still alive to Potter County, Pennsylvania, where he was found dead and bound by an electrical cord along Route 6 in April 2021, authorities said. The kidnapping reportedly took place in late January 2021.
Weems, Marte, and Bovaird were initially indicted in New York for charges including first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping, and first-degree assault.
Thomas Bovaird and Eddie Marte (Chemung County Jail)
Weems and Marte were also charged separately for allegedly kidnapping a man named Joseph Waters in April 2021 and holding him for 12 hours to bilk ransom money during a home invasion.
The 26-year-old Marte pleaded guilty in December in Ontario County to charges of burglary, robbery, kidnapping, criminal possession of a controlled substance and multiple weapons charges in connection with the crime involving Joseph Waters.
Ontario County Judge Brian Dennis in February sentenced him to 15 years in prison, according to a report from the Finger Lake Times. He is serving his sentence at the Attica Correctional Facility in Wyoming County, New York.
Weems is scheduled to appear in court again on July 14 for his sentencing hearing. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Alberto Luperon contributed to this report.
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