True Crime with Kimbyr - She Predicted Her Own Murder: The Haunting Case of Valerie Reyes: Part 3

Episode Date: June 23, 2025

Part 3 of Valerie Reyes’ story on True Crime with Kimbyr brings shocking revelations and long-awaited answers. As investigators close in on a suspect, Valerie’s worst fears come to life in ways no one imagined. Kimbyrleigha explores the emotional courtroom moments, the twisted motives behind the crime, and the heartbreaking impact on Valerie’s family. How did the truth finally surface—and what justice, if any, was served? With empathy and expert storytelling, Kimbyrleigha delivers the final, unforgettable chapter of Valerie’s case. Don’t miss the emotional conclusion to this tragic and unforgettable story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

But after hearing what Norma told them, the detectives could see the classic patterns of a toxic relationship. Javier appeared to be someone desperate for control, and when he didn't get it, he could have become dangerous. From the beginning of their short relationship, Javier displayed what we know as love bombing. He overwhelmed Valerie with intense affection and attention that quickly escalated to a level of seriousness that she found uncomfortable. This tactic creates this false sense of closeness. This period of time can be very intense and make it harder for someone to recognize. the underlying red flags. His refusal to accept the end of their relationship

and his repeated attempts to stay in contact show his inability to let go and respect her boundaries. All of this added up, the moving too fast, the creating dependency through emotional manipulation and using guilt to control his partner and make them overlook his flaws in his behavior. Now, these signs can be subtle at first, but they often lead to more obvious forms of control.

In Valerie's case, they signaled to her that Javier heard that Javier had the potential to escalate his behavior into more concerning actions when his manipulations stopped working. So Valerie did the right thing in the situation. She left before things got to a point of no return. She was able to get away, but the question was, did Javier truly move on or had he been stewing all of these months, especially when he found out that she was dating Justin? Was he planning the ultimate revenge by not letting anyone else ever have her by taking her life. It was their biggest lead. He had a motive, and he still had her number. He knew where she lived. Could he have possibly convinced her to talk to him that night and let him inside?

Investigators had a way to try to find out. They had enough evidence to get a warrant for his arrest on larceny charges for the legal use of her debit card and a search warrant for his apartment and the vehicle he rented. They also got his cell phone data, and on February 11th, officers from both the new Rochelle and Greenwich Police Department actually arrested Javier, and he was detained as they carried out their searches. While that was going on, they brought him in for an interview, but he denied having anything to do with Valerie's murder and acted as though he didn't even know who she was.

When confronted with the video evidence of him leaving his residence, renting the Honda, and then being spotted on camera withdrawing money from the ATM, Javier said that he found Valerie's debit card on the sidewalk when he was bar hopping in the East Village in Manhattan. But when investigators asked, well, Well, how'd you get the pin? He said, oh, I actually found her wallet on the sidewalk. And inside was a piece of paper with the pin number written on it.

I'm sorry, but who really expects that to be the truth? Who would even do that? It was an unbelievable scenario when it was one after the next. In a search of his apartment, they find not only Valerie's driver's license, but her bank card inside Javier's wallet. He also had her Kindle device and one of the pillows from her bed. That is creepy. Soon, they wouldn't need to listen to his lies

because they had more evidence. They got his DNA and his GPS data. His phone extraction, in addition to Valerie's service providers download because they couldn't find her phone, would show everything he did on his phone and everywhere he went and what Valerie's phone was doing at the exact same time. That's the part that I love to dive into.

So here goes. First, they found that text from Valerie to her friend back in September 2018, saying she wanted nothing to do do with Javier. And from that moment on, there was no direct contact via phone between Javier and Valerie. But on January 24th, just days before she went missing, the same day she broke things off with Justin, actually, Javier sent a very strange text to a woman he had been dating at the time. Now, I got to be honest, I'm pretty good to understanding things, but I could not quite piece together what he was trying to convey in this text. But the text was this,

quote, I just found my ex effing in my bed with the guy next door in New Rochelle on December after years, but I didn't want to tell you shit, end quote. I don't know if it's the language barrier because I know his first language is Spanish and maybe they translated this. I'm not sure. But he's mentioning an ex in reference to New Rochelle. And that's where Valerie lived. So detectives just assumed and pieced together that he was referring to Valerie.

But what he's essentially saying, I think, this text is that he somehow witnessed, I'm guessing, his ex, which would be Valerie, having intercourse with her next-door neighbor, and since he used to live or be around that apartment, it seemed like he kind of considered it his. I don't know, that's how I interpreted it. I could be wrong. I didn't really understand like on December after years because it hadn't been years. They weren't together for years. Detectives assumed he was telling his new love interest, that his ex had cheated on him in December, and he caught her. But we know that's not true.

They weren't together, and they didn't date for years. So it's a little bit confusing, and most likely this was just to garner sympathy from this new girl in his life. He had done the same thing with Valerie in the past, making her feel sorry for him. But four days later, on the exact night that Valerie told her mom and Jeffrey

that she was scared someone was going to murder her, Javier left his apartment at 10.50 p.m., rented the Honda, and then input and address for a church. and new Rochelle into Google Maps. Now we're getting this from his phone extraction just so you know. Now that church is only one mile away from Valerie's apartment.

Google location data showed Javier then traveled to New Rochelle. A few minutes after midnight, so now we're into January 29th. His GPS showed that he was within 200 feet of Valerie's apartment. At which point, Javier decides to deliberately turn off the location services

on his phone, which means he is not tracking his location anymore. However, the theory that Valerie knew he was there or that somehow they connected and she willingly let him in was debunked because there was no record of any contact made between these two devices prior or after his arrival to new Rochelle. She had no idea that he was there. She wasn't expecting him and he most likely broke into her apartment or since he'd been there before, he knew an easy way inside. The how was unclear, but what was apparent is that a violent struggle ensued. in her bedroom. At approximately 3 a.m., now three hours after Javier turned off his location data,

his phone stopped pinging off cell towers, indicating that he had placed his phone in airplane mode. Isn't that interesting? Then, this is disgusting. When I think about this part, it makes me so mad. He used Valerie's thumbprint to unlock her phone. She was most likely unconscious at this time. And then he accessed her iCloud account. He viewed her notes app, her photos, he went through her browsing history, and the Find

my iPhone app. So like all the places she had been, what she'd been doing, and he did this until 4.17 a.m. Wow. So he's just sitting there, going through her stuff for over an hour. It's sickening. This reminds me so much, if you haven't watched this case, it reminds me so much of the school girls in South Africa. That case had a similar undertone with the perpetrator rifling through the victim's phone

after he attacked her in a jealous rage. It's such a violation. And at 4.20 a.m. and again at 433, Javier used Valerie's thumbprint again on her phone to access her Chase Bank application. And then he checked her bank account balance. At some point, he placed tape over Valerie's mouth, tied her up, and then put her inside a suitcase

while she was still alive, and then placed that suitcase in the back of his vehicle. Just a half an hour, after he accessed her bank account from her phone, he went to the bank and he was caught on camera withdrawing that $1,000 and driving westbound. And then his phone location data was turned back on, and his phone pinged in Harrison, New York at 629 a.m.,

then Darien, Connecticut at 6.34 a.m. And then at approximately 7.11 a.m. Javier was once again accessing several different apps on Valerie's phone. By 724, his phone pinged on a cell tower in Greenwich, Greenwich, Connecticut, which is where Valerie's body was found. By 806, Javier's phone was traveling back the way he came. It pinged in Scarstone, New York, New Rochelle at 827 a.

m., and Queens, where he lived at 9.11 a.m. Then, once again, he turned off his location services as he got closer to his own apartment. But CCTV footage showed him entering the building at 9.43 a.m. wearing that tan coat and carrying a duffel bag, and then exited minutes later without it, Over the course of the next few days, he made a number of withdrawals that I briefly mentioned totaled $5,350. On February 6, the day after Valerie's body was found, Javier rented the same Honda CRV in the early morning hours, and his phone GPS showed him going to a car wash in the Bronx. Then he returned the vehicle to the rental company.

Clearly, he was attempting to get rid of any evidence that Valerie had been inside that vehicle. The next day on February 7th, This man, this monster, he callously logged into an online marketplace and traded Valerie's iPad for an Apple monitor and an Apple laptop, which he later told his roommate he found. He is so lucky that he finds wallet. He finds expensive electronics just lying around. Who needs to work when you have such good luck? I'm rolling my eyes because he was disgusting, especially with the post that he made the next day on February 8th, posing with his newly acquired technology knowing that he killed for it. Was it worth it? To trade a human life for material possessions.

Days later, he's sitting in the interview room lying through his teeth when they have enough evidence to prove he is responsible. When confronted with even more evidence, Javier still denied ever being a new Rochelle or Connecticut. But now he admitted that he did date Valerie, but he hadn't seen her since the beginning of 2018. He claimed that everything was good in their relationship and it ended on good terms, even adding, and this was so weird, that his favorite thing about her was that she smelled good. Yet you couldn't remember how long they dated. He was like, we didn't have an anniversary. So that meant maybe they didn't date even six months, right? But when they showed him text messages and the phone data of him being a new Rochelle and driving to Connecticut, he

admitted he rented the Honda on January 28th, but he drank a lot that night and he blacked out and he didn't remember anything that happened, how convenient. Finally, the detective showed him a picture of Valerie's deceased and partially decomposed body, and he began to break. In these pictures, she definitely didn't look the same way she had before he had done this to her when he threw her away like trash and left her to die. Now Javier was claiming he was with Valerie on the night of the 28th, and that her death was a complete accident, that it actually happened while the two were having intercourse. Hmm. Well, of course, they want him to elaborate because they already knew this wasn't adding up because they knew she wanted nothing to do with him. They hadn't made any plans to meet up.

They hadn't had contact in a long time. She wouldn't have let him inside willingly on a night that she had a terrible gut feeling. She was terrified she was going to be murdered. But they let him tell his version of what happened. And when asked how she died, he replied, she fell. We fell together. When detectives asked if Valerie fell off the bed, he nodded and explained. She fell on the floor, cracked her head open while they were getting a little rough while hooking up. He said he tried to help her, but she wasn't responding. And at that point, in the interview, he began to cry. He was shaking.

He was shaking so hard he was having trouble speaking. But he told them that he put his mouth on her mouth. He tried to put air in it. And then when asked if Valerie was bleeding, Javier could only whimper. And that's when he said, I'm a bad person. I did something wrong. I didn't call the police because I thought they would blame me. So instead, you're telling me, instead of just calling 911,

he taped her mouth so she couldn't scream or breathe, and then tied her up. Because according to him, when they asked why you did that, she wouldn't fit inside the suitcase. But he did admit that he drove. He didn't know where he was going. And after he got rid of her body, he went back to his apartment and he waited. acting as though he knew that he was eventually going to get caught. Really? The fact that he was in Valerie's apartment for at least three hours means he probably attempted to clean up. That's probably why there was only a small amount of blood found. So it seemed more like he was trying to get away with it.

But he nodded yes when asked if he knew that cops would find him. He even claimed, and this was just laughable to me, that the reason he withdrew the cash from Valerie's account is because he wanted to get caught. Of course, the investigators did not believe this story. story. I mean, there was way too much premeditation for this to have been an accident. But let's say that it was. Let's say he was only there to steal her bank card. If the death was an accident, why not just call 911? To help this young woman that was still alive, but he put her inside of a suitcase. She would have most likely survived the head trauma. She died from suffocation. At this point, he was being charged with a federal crime of kidnapping,

resulting in death, a charge that carried the death penalty. And this was because the federal government had jurisdiction. He kidnapped Valerie in one state, and then crossed state lines, and she died in another. On February 12th, the same day that Javier was arrested, Valerie's funeral was taking place. It was at St. Gabriel's Church, while the captain was holding a press conference, and I'm going to play a portion of that now.

Ever since Valerie Reyes was found deceased in Greenwich on February 5th, Grants police have been working closely with police from New Rochelle, New York. Several crime scenes have been examined, hours of surveillance video have been reviewed, and numerous interviews conducted. Detectives from both agencies have pursued a multitude of leads. There has been an intense focus on the use of Valerie's ATM card, after which we believe she was murdered. This line of investigation corroborated by others led us to a suspect. Last night in Queens, New York, detectives from New Rochelle, accompanied by detectives from the Greenwich Police Department,

located in an arrest of the suspect in the fraudulent use of Valerie's ATM card. This same suspect was interviewed jointly by Greenwich and New Rochelle detectives and admitted a role in the death of Valerie Reyes. The suspect, which has already been identified by New Rochelle Police, is Javier de Selva of Queens, New York. At this point, Mr. DeSalvi is the only one that's been identified as a suspect, but I want to emphasize, investigation continues. The investigation is not finished yet. There's a lot of loose ends that need to be tied up. He agreed to be interviewed, and I would characterize the essence as cooperative. Again, we just want to emphasize that we hope this obtained some level of justice. Back at the church, mourners came out to pay tribute to a life loss way too soon. In the hallway of the a video collage of Valerie's life played on repeat, capturing moments from her childhood,

of her singing, performing in a family play, sitting on the edge of a mountain in Colorado, and dancing with friends. The video also showed her playful side, featuring clips with humorous Snapchat filters and photo showcasing what her mother lovingly called her fashionista hairsty hairstyles. Her younger brothers who were only five and seven years old, they were crying as they watched that video. Valerie's best friend Jeff and Ricky Medina did their best to comfort the heartbroken boys. Valerie was buried at Greenwood Union Cemetery and her loved ones, including her mom and her older brother huddled together, just crying and embracing as her casket was lowered into the ground. Her friend Andrea actually made a public statement about the

person Valerie was. She was so like alive, like she would do a lot of things for the community. She was so sweet. And everyone remembers her as a very like young, kindhearted heart. Her grandpa also said a few words as well. We can't stand the pain, but we have to go on, says Reyes' grandfather. It was bittersweet. Normal was a static that an arrest had been made, but she had so many questions. Days after being charged, Javier was already doing interviews with different news agencies, claiming that this was all a very unfortunate accident, and he was so spooked, he ran, and he didn't call the police. He would sob, and he would act like he was so remorseful during

these interviews, acting like he wished he would have done more to save Valerie when it's so beyond clear that this was all on purpose. Let's be real. This man rented a car. He turned his GPS off on his phone. He caught Valerie off guard because they had no plans to meet. She wanted nothing to do with him. He had already stolen from her in the past. So whether he went there with the intent to murder her or not or just solely steal, an altercation occurred because of it. And it ended in her death. Therefore, it makes no difference. His action. were intentional. When the DNA results came back, it proved that he also forced himself on her. Yep. So the plot

thickens. His DNA was found on a vaginal swab, a swab of her chest, and underneath her fingernails. She bought back, indicating that this was not consensual at all. And his DNA was also found on the handle of the suitcase. But I also want to mention this. When he was interviewed, he had a, I think it was on his left, under his left eye. He had a mark there. bruise there that was healing. She hit him. We know that that she hit him. So she was fighting him. Four days before this, he sent that text out being upset that his ex was sleeping with somebody else. How would he have known that? Because he was probably stalking her. This case started to appear to be about Javier taking what he wanted, Valerie's body on his terms and her money.

Whether he intended to kill her that night or a struggle ensued as he tried to force himself and she resisted, she was dead because of him. And he was only upset that he got caught. I can tell you that. In total, he stole more than $10,000 from her bank account from September 2018 and the days following her death. When her ex-boyfriend, Justin Orda, heard about Javier being arrested, he said that it came as a huge surprise. He said Valerie did not speak of Javier recently, and she never said she was afraid of him either. Justin also mentioned he didn't know Javier was even in-euvre. New York anymore. He thought he moved to California. They came here to actually tell us that they have someone in custody and then they released

his name. My heart dropped. It's like emotions of so much anger and hate, but relieved, just thankful, just thanking my daughter, because I would ask her, I would pray to her every single night to guide him, to lead them to any evidence that might lead to his, you know, whereabouts I know a lot of people are going to be relieved knowing that there's, you know, this monster that they caught them already. That they made an arrest in the same day as your daughter's wake. What does that mean to you? Exactly. It means a lot.

It means a lot. You know, it's different when your child dies of natural diseases. But when somebody, a monster comes and takes your daughter away or your child away, for what? For what? You know, it's not only hurt, it's hate. So I feel relieved because they have them, but of course, we're still obviously devastated. And this case took quite a while to reach trial,

mostly because it had to be handled in a federal court since a crime spanned two states. But additionally, a lot of the delay was due to Javier's defense team. They were repeatedly attempting to negotiate a plea deal. They wanted to remove the death penalty as an option. His public defenders, Mark DeMarco and Jason Scher, worked to reduce Javier's potential sentence by trying to portray him as a good person

with no prior criminal history and a positive reputation among those who knew him. Really? They did this by emphasizing that he had been forced to leave college and flee Venezuela with only $600 in cash with him, seeking a new life in the U.S. And while here, his defense said that he kept a low profile working hard

and being a law-abiding citizen, but I have to say, are we calling it low-profile? Is that what you want to call it? He was actually here illegally. And that's why he was laying low. But anyway, a year later, on the 5th of February 2020, Javier appeared in court for the very first time.

And this date was exactly one year after Valerie's body had been found on the side of the road. And Javier looked very different from the man who had been taken into custody a year earlier. His hair was neatly cut, his beard was shaved. It gave him more of a clean cut appearance, which is not uncommon when you're dealing with someone this nasty and evil because you want to make them look nice,

not disheveled or anything. He accepted a plea agreement which required him to plead guilty to the charges against him in exchange for the removal of the death penalty. In a statement provided to the court, Javier said in Spanish, quote, after a violent struggle in her apartment while Valerie Reyes was still alive, I bound her feet and hands, put tape over her mouth and put her in a suitcase, end quote. Three months later, he appeared in court for his sentencing hearing. Now, this part of the proceeding is where the defense team can please,

for leniency, and friends and family of the victim can share their impact statements. And then it's kind of balanced and weighed by a judge and they decide what this sentence is going to be. Although his attorneys didn't try to diminish the seriousness of the crime, they attempted to argue that his violent actions were a result of wait for it, intense stress, compounded by such a long time being separated from his family and his drug habit. He was habitually using marijuana. Last time I checked, though, I'm just saying I don't think marijuana is usually related to violence per se. I usually think it makes people more calm. They also just described him as a broken man that was sincerely regretful for his actions and fully aware of the horrific nature of what he had done.

When it was Valerie's mom Norma's turn to address the court, she spoke to Javier directly saying that he was selfish, greedy, and a soulless person. She said, you Javier deserve nothing but pain. and rejection. A mother can never prepare to face a terrible day like this. I want you to hear the words of a mother who you devastated by taking away my baby girl. My boys are all heartbroken and devastated. My boys struggle to accept she's no longer here. Today, I hope Valerie finds a justice she deserves." Havier was also given the opportunity to provide a statement, and I was surprised. He did. He said, quote, no words can express how we're

I am by the acts I committed. My acts caused Valerie's death, and I can never forgive myself for doing that. It's my fault that she's not here any longer. Valerie's family deserves to know, I'm sorry. I implore before God on my knees that God will bless them and remove some of their pain." The federal court judge Vincent Bruchetti called it a brutal, callous, cruel crime, and he didn't by the defense's claims that Javier was a good person who just did one bad thing. I mean, this is a very big bad thing to be just like, one bad thing you did. He didn't believe that he was remorseful, and it didn't excuse his actions, nonetheless. He didn't deserve a lighter sentence. The judge said that what you did to this woman was sickening. Anyone who could do such a thing is not a good person.

By definition, anyone who could do such a thing like this is an evil person, and justice requires an evil deed to be punished by a lengthy prison sentence." End quote. He also highlighted Javier's actions after the murder and how he stole from her bank account still, he sold her iPad for money, and he also made sure to mention that Javier's family could visit him in prison if he wanted them to.

But Valerie's family would never get to see her again. So ultimately, he sentenced Javier to 30 years in prison plus two years of supervision. He would be 55 years old upon release, which I think, is not enough time. But immigration officials said that as soon as that man served his sentence, he would be deported.

We've never gotten an answer as to what made Valerie so scared for her life in the days before her death. No threats were found on her phone or within any of her personal belongings. And if they were, they've never been reported. So would Javier threatened her? Or is there a more mysterious explanation for her fears? Valerie was known as a deeply intuitive person,

someone who often trusted her gut feelings. So did she sense that danger was near, maybe picking up on subtle cues that others may have missed? Was this a chilling premonition or a lingering sense of dread from a recent encounter? We'll likely never know the answer, but I'd love to get your thoughts. Either way, this is yet another case

where a woman's life has been stolen for a man's pleasure, whether that's the physical part or the material possessions that he stood to gain. Recently, I saw a comment on one of my videos from someone who said, They enjoyed watching me, but they called me a feminist in a negative way because they noticed that almost all my videos are about women victims. I'm not a feminist, but if you define it as valuing the lives of women, call me a feminist. The truth is, I'm a woman who doesn't want to see women die at the hands of men.

How about men stop killing us? Women are killed by more men statistically, so don't call me names. Instead, focus your energy on being an advocate for these women who lost their lives, often for nothing more than a man's pleasure. We're not here to please men. We're here to live our lives without being a target of someone's desire, only to be thrown away like trash when they're finished with us. I'm going to leave you with that, and I will see you in my next video. Bye.