BRONX WOMAN SENTENCED TO FIVE YEARS PROBATION IN CONNECTION WITH A DEATH THAT OCCURRED DURING A “RITUAL CLEANSING”

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that 62 year-old Mildred Sanchez, has been sentenced to a term of five years probation by State Supreme Court Justice Troy K. Webber, in the death of a 32 year old client who had gone to the defendant’s apartment for a “ritual cleansing.”

Sanchez, of 51 North Street, the Bronx, was convicted last month of one count of Criminally negligent homicide in the death of Minerva Perez on February 24, 2004. Perez was killed during a ritual which involved the use of a candle, highly flammable Florida Water, and an alcoholic beverage. Perez was naked and bathing in the flammable liquid when it ignited. The victim sustained 2nd and 3rd degree burns over most of her body. The Medical Examiner ruled that the cause of death was a combination of the critical burns and a subsequent asthma attack that was triggered by the traumatic incident.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Nadia Chanza of the General Crimes Division.