Shot 10 times: Andres Rodriguez found guilty in 2020 fatal shooting of local tattoo artist

It took a jury almost three hours Thursday afternoon to find Andres Rodriguez guilty of first-degree homicide for the fatal shooting of a local tattoo artist.

The result of a three-day trial before President Judge John Tylwalk, Rodriguez will face a life sentence in the shooting death of Jonathan Valcourt-Irizzary during a party on the morning of Nov. 27, 2020 in the alley next to the Beneath the Skin tattoo parlor. Rodriguez was also found guilty of possession of a firearm prohibited.

"Jonathan Valcourt was left to die in an alley," District Attorney Pier Hess Graf said to the jury in her opening arguments Tuesday. "He was shot 10 times. Back of his head, chest, stomach. All over his body. This victim had no weapon. He had no ability to protect or defend himself, and he lost so much blood, he sustained so many gun shot wounds, our victim had no chance for survival."

On Wednesday, tattoo artist Daryl Watts said that on Nov. 26, 2020 Valcourt-Irizzary and a group of friends took his brother to the Cumberland Street tattoo shop for a birthday party. As the party continued, an argument broke out between Valcourt-Irizzary and Jonathan Butler-Arocho.

The argument continued out into the alley next to Beneath the Skin, where Valcourt-Irizzary threw a Corona bottle in the direction of Butler-Arocho and Rodriguez. Rodriguez then pulled a handgun and fired at Valcourt-Irizzary.

"He was shot right in front of me," Watts said.

Police testified that 15 shots were fired, with Valcourt-Irizzary being hit 10 times, including in his head, chest and stomach. He was taken to the Penn State Hershey Medical Center for treatment but succumbed to his injuries.

On Thursday, Rodriguez testified that the gun he used that evening was a Glock Model 23 .40 caliber pistol with a 32-round magazine. He testified that the reason he had the gun was for protection, but added that he was on probation and not supposed to own or carry a firearm at the time of the shooting.

"Our witnesses told us (Rodriguez) always carried a gun, and when he got angry, when he felt disrespected, the gun would come out," Graf said.

Calling the shooting a tragedy and adding, "I wish it would have never happened," Rodriguez said it was never his intent to shoot Valcourt-Irizzary that evening.

"If I wanted to kill him, I would have kept shooting," he said when cross examined by the district attorney Thursday. "I clearly stopped once I realized he was bleeding and he was hit. I didn't want to kill him."

Officials said Rodriguez fled before Lebanon City Police arrived on the scene. After a trip to his mother's home, Rodriguez stayed in various hotels for almost two months while asking family and friends for funds.

"I knew if I got arrested, if I turned myself in, that I was going to be charged," Rodriguez said. "I was already wanted for it, so more or less I was trying to just wait until my family gathered money so I could get a lawyer so I could be fairly tried."

U.S. Marshals arrested Rodriguez in January 2021 without incident at a hotel in the 100 block of Limekiln Road in York County. Law enforcement found a cell phone that was broken and in the hotel toilet.

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While incarcerated at the Lebanon County Correctional facility, Rodriguez received a discovery packet from the district attorney's office with witness statements for trial. In March 2022, correctional officers later found a note from Rodriguez asking someone to kill the witnesses, saying to "make it look like a robbery so it don't look weird" and to hire someone from places such asPhiladelphia or Reading.

"PLEASE, motivate and get this done ASAP please," Graf read from the note Wednesday. "This is the only way I'mma be able to come home anytime soon. So please get it done as soon as possible! But don't talk through phones about it or inside cars. If anything, do what I'm doing. A note, then burn it!"

After the note was found, Graf said that witnesses were notified about it's contents and measures were taken to maintain their safety.

"To some extent, I was concerned that would want to make our witnesses not want to come into court and not want to come back and be so afraid," she said. "Thankfully for us, our witnesses were strong, they were committed to justice for Jonathan Valcourt, and it had no effect."

Rodriguez said he never showed that note to anyone and that his intent was for it to be found so that he could "scare witnesses" but not to hurt anybody.

"I didn't think this through, it was just a very stupid idea," he said.

Rodriguez's attorney, John McMahon Jr., contended that Rodriguez did have a gun and fired at Valcourt-Irizzary in 2020. But he said Rodriguez wasn't looking to kill the former Lebanon tattoo artist, rather this was a situational incident that was happening in the moment.

"Obviously we believed this was a voluntary manslaughter case, that it was a heat-of-passion case," he said after the verdict was read Thursday. "We argued it, the jury listened and they made their decision. ... It's not the verdict that I wanted or thought the law demanded in this case, but they did, and I respect that."

McMahon added that they are planning to appeal the verdict.

Rodriguez's sentencing hearing was not scheduled Thursday evening.

Matthew Toth is a reporter for the Lebanon Daily News. Reach him at mtoth@ldnews.com or on Twitter at @DAMattToth.

This article originally appeared on Lebanon Daily News: Rodriguez found guilty in 2020 fatal shooting of local tattoo artist