Queens man gets 25 years for killing of wife in salon

Convicted killer William Rivas’ sons want to drop their father’s last name, relatives said Thursday in Queens Supreme Court as Rivas was sentenced to 25 years in prison for killing their mother.

Rivas, 39, of Corona, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter for plunging a knife several times into the chest of his wife — the mother of his sons — at the Jackson Heights nail salon where she worked.

Rivas (inset) shed a tear in court as his former sister-inlaw, Yunia Santiago, stated that his two sons, who she said are 11- and 17-years-old, want to discard their father’s surname.

“They don’t even want your last name because they’re ashamed of you. They’re ashamed of the trash that you are,” Santiago said.

Ana Camacho, a cousin of murder victim Carmen Santiago, said through sobs that Rivas had “killed” his two sons by taking the life of their mother.

“I will leave it in God’s hands, and I hope that God gives you what you deserve, and that you never, never have peace in your life again,” said Camacho. “I want to see you destroyed.”

When Justice David Kirschner asked him if he wanted to make a statement, Rivas shook his head. Kirschner’s sentence was the maximum for the crime. Surveillance video from the Aug. 7 slaying showed Rivas as he stormed into the Tu S’tilo Salon Spa in Jackson Heights and swung a knife at his estranged wife nine times.

Salon workers desperately tried to fight him off, to no avail. After he was done, Rivas hugged Santiago on the salon’s bloody floor and spoke to her. When cops arrived, they found Rivas on top of her.

Rivas and Santiago were immigrants from the Dominican Republic. A friend said the couple split up several months before the slaying because Rivas got jealous when he saw her talking to other men.

When Santiago showed up for work two weeks before the slaying with injuries that seemed to come from an attack, the salon owner’s mother told her to get an order of protection against Rivas. “Today’s sentence of the court punishes this defendant for committing this fatal domestic violence attack against his estranged wife, whom he repeatedly stabbed in front of horrified onlookers at her workplace,” said Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.