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It was too little, too late.
A 21-year-old illegal Ecuadorian migrant begged for forgiveness in an upstate courtroom for strangling his childhood friend to death and dumping her body in the woods — before getting hit with a hefty sentence.
Jhon Moises Chacaguasay-Ilbis bowed his head in shame in an Onondaga County courtroom Monday as he apologized to the heartbroken family of Joselyn Jhoana Toaquiza for her senseless 2024 murder, according to a report by syracuse.com.
“I want to apologize to Jhoana’s family, to my family and to my friends for all the pain and suffering that I have caused,” the convicted killer said through an interpreter. “I feel really bad and ashamed for this situation that caused, for ignoring my principles and values.
“I understand and I respect their pain,” Chacaguasay-Ilbis said. “I acknowledge the damage that I made and I’m responsible for my actions. I regret everything and I wholeheartedly ask for your forgiveness. I wasn’t conscious about what I did.”
The Ecuadorian national pleaded guilty to murder charges in January for killing Toaquiza on her 21st birthday on June 18, 2024 — with chilling video footage showing him carrying her lifeless body out of a Syracuse Airbnb before dumping her in Lincoln Park.
The killer migrant crossed the US border illegally in El Paso in January 2023, but was released because there was no space to hold him, according to Homeland Security sources.
Toaquiza, who attended elementary school with Chacaguasay-Ilbis in Ecuador, crossed into the US illegally a few months later, on June 19, 2023, in Lukeville, Arizona, the sources said.
In court Monday, prosecutors said Chacaguasay-Ilbis began using the victim’s credit card after arriving in the Big Apple, including to buy a subscription to OnlyFans.
The migrant picked up Toaquiza at her hotel job earlier on the day of her death to help celebrate her birthday — but viciously strangled her to death instead, according to syracuse.com.
Toaquiza’s father offered a moving statement Monday before her killer gave his hollow apology, telling Chacaguasay-Ilbis they were “devastated” by losing “my princess.”
Judge Ted Limpert, who sentenced the migrant to 23 years to life in prison, had little use for his apology.
“This crime is really inexplicable,” the judge said. “The court is not aware of, nor is the family aware of the reasons that this happened, and it’s very disturbing and I’m sure the family is going to wrestle with the rest of their lives.
“They can’t understand it, nor can I, nor can the people of this community, why you would take the life of such a young, beautiful woman,” Limpert said.
