A migrant has been charged with strangulation, possibly a copycat crime in Gilgo Beach

Prosecutors in New York have charged a Venezuelan man with attempted murder who experts warn may try to copy the crime before pleading guilty to the alleged Gilgo Beach killer.

“The defendant allegedly drove a man he knew to a remote beach and attacked him from behind with a knife,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said in a statement.

“Evidence found in his car raises serious questions about what he intended that night.”

Suspected GILGO BEACH SERIAL KILLER REX HEUERMANN IS WAITING FOR PELAD MURDER: Reports

Ruben Guanipa Ramirez, 26, is accused of covering the mouth of an unidentified male victim with a cloth before stabbing him in the left back and trying to cut his throat.

Police later searched Ramirez’s vehicle, a 2024 Lexus NX250, and allegedly found several knives, rope, tape, blankets, plastic wrap, a “wheelie bag,” gloves and a box cutter.

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The Gilgo Beach visitor sign outside the tunnel that connects the parking lot to the beach under Ocean Parkway. (Michael Ruiz/Fox News)

Ramirez’s immigration status was not immediately clear. He is being held at the Suffolk County Jail in Riverhead – the same facility that houses Gilgo Beach suspect Rex Heuermann, 62.

Although authorities have not publicly discussed any connection between the crimes, observers such as retired NYPD Sergeant Joseph Giacalone, former head of the NYPD’s Bronx Cold Case Unit, see striking similarities.

“Was this a copycat crime… related to what happened with Rex Heuermann in the news?” said Giacalone who has been following Gilgo’s case for years.

“They need to take a good look at this young man.”

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Suspected murderer Rex A. Heuermann is escorted to Suffolk County Court Judge Tim Mazzei in Riverhead for a felony hearing on July 17, 2025, in Riverhead, New York. The hearing was then to decide whether vital DNA evidence would be allowed in the case. The 61-year-old suspect has pleaded not guilty to murdering seven women between 1993 and 2011. (James Carbone-Pool/Getty Images)

He said the items found in Ramirez’s car were very troubling, noting that Heuermann’s victims were found bound with duct tape and wrapped in cloth or plastic.

Some were mutilated.

Before the attack in the parking lot of Gilgo Beach, Ramirez allegedly drove the victim to a swimming pool in Nassau County and then to Jones Beach, another nearby waterfront – where Heuermann once worked at the summer beach.

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Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney speaks to reporters during a news conference in Riverhead, NY, Thursday, June 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

“During the altercation, the victim sustained self-defense wounds to her hands but was able to grab the knife away from Ramirez,” Tierney’s office said in a statement.

The victim was able to regain control of Ramirez’s car, called 911 and drove to a friend’s house in Queens, where the NYPD met with him and he received treatment.

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State police found Ramirez walking on the Long Island Expressway hours later.

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It’s more than 20 miles from where prosecutors say the victim jumped on the side of Ocean Parkway — a long-distance waterway that gained notoriety after police found 11 bodies east of Gilgo Beach in 2010 and 2011.

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Ramirez is being held on $200,000 cash bail, $500,000 bond or $2 million less secured bond.

He will appear in court again on April 29 and faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of the more serious charge of attempted murder.