Man charged with murder in White Plains beating death considering psych defense
A man accused of beating and stomping a man to death during an attempted robbery in White Plains last year is weighing a psychiatric defense.
Lawyers for Jare Diaz will review a report by a doctor who examined Diaz and decide in the next month whether to proceed with that defense, one of the lawyers, David Hymen, told Westchester County Judge George Fufidio Thursday.
The late November killing of 38-year-old Otoniel Guzman-Desdicho and the arrest and indictment of Diaz were never publicized by White Plains police or the Westchester District Attorney's Office. And the city's annual report of crime statistics to the state Division of Criminal Justice Services in February listed no homicides for 2022.
White Plains police Commissioner David Chong said Thursday that police had handled it as an assault case and it only became a murder case when the District Attorney's Office got an indictment against Diaz two weeks later.
According to prosecutors in court documents, Diaz approached and tried to rob Guzman-Desdicho on Post Road near South Lexington Avenue late on Nov. 26. He took his wallet from his jacket pocket, returned it and then tried to take it back again. When Guzman-Desdicho resisted, Diaz hit him and the victim hit Diaz back, knocking him to the ground and they began scuffling.
When Diaz managed to overpower Guzman-Desdicho, prosecutors said, he got on top of him and hit him in the head more than two dozen times. As the victim lay motionless, Diaz then kicked him repeatedly. When a bystander tried to intervene, Diaz slapped Guzman-Desdicho in the head several more times before walking away.
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When police arrived witnesses gave a description of the suspect and Diaz was spotted a block away wearing clothes that matched the description, according to prosecutors. Police approached him and saw blood on his clothing and his hands and took him into custody after he told them he had been hit first.
Guzman-Desdicho died at the hospital three days later.
Hymen gave no information about the details of the psychiatric report in court on Thursday and did not return a phone message left at the Legal Aid Society. It was not known whether Diaz had a history of psychiatric issues.
Diaz, 25, is charged with second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter and first-degree attempted robbery. He remains held without bail at the Westchester County jail and is due back in court on Aug. 31.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Jare Diaz weighing psych defense in fatal White Plains beating
