A man who killed his ex-girlfriend’s roommate in a mistaken identity murder in Northern Virginia was sentenced Friday to two life terms in prison. One life term was for the murder; the other was for setting the victim’s body on fire.
The family and friends of the victim, Silvia Vaca Abacay, said they're pleased with the sentence but upset about what the killer had to say about the crime. They came to court wearing T-shirts bearing the victim’s picture and the words "Loved and remembered."
Vaca Abacay was a wife and mother of two. Her friends called her Kelly.
“Kelly, for us, isn’t dead. She lives in our hearts," one friend, Carmen Arancibia told us in Spanish.
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Arancibia and others were wiping away tears in the courtroom as the prosecutor described a most horrible crime on Aug. 10, 2022.
Ring camera videos presented during the trial show Richard Montano entering apartment in the Seven Corners area that his ex-girlfriend shared with the victim and her husband.
Montano lay in wait, knife in hand, and stabbed the first woman to come through the door. Prosecutors say he'd expected it would be his ex, but it was Vaca Abacay. She was stabbed more than 10 times, then set on fire. Photos showed burn marks in the carpet where clothing was used as an accelerant.
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The prosecutor asked for the maximum sentence for Montano, saying: "He had to have realized he was murdering the wrong person, yet he kept going."
"It takes a depraved mind to set a human being on fire," the prosecutor said.
When the judge gave Montano his chance to speak, Montano didn’t apologize or show remorse. He is maintaining his innocence, telling the judge, "She was a friend; I never would, at any time, cause harm to her … To all those who point their finger at me, I want to say to them that my conscience is clear."
In sentencing Montano to two life terms, the judge told him: "I can’t bring Silvia back, but I can make sure you never walk free again."
The victim’s family and friends are relieved.
"I feel happy. The judge made a good decision," the victim's cousin Gabriela Rojas said.
Vaca Abacay's husband, Jose Landivar, said a huge weight has been lifted.
"I feel like there’s justice. Something that needed to happen," he told us in Spanish.
But Montano’s claim of innocence was hard for this group to hear.
"He’s lying. He's lying ... He don’t feeling anything," Rojas said. "He need to stay in the jail forever and ever, because he’s not a good person."
Montano’s attorney told the judge that he plans to appeal.
