Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Elisaul Perez today was sentenced to 20 years in prison for attacking 61-year-old GuiYing Ma as she swept a sidewalk in Corona on the day after Thanksgiving in 2021, fatally striking her twice in the head with a large rock.

District Attorney Katz said: “While today’s sentence cannot make up for the heartbreaking and senseless loss of their loved one, I hope that it provides some measure of solace to the family of Ms. Ma.  The long sentence will hold the defendant to account for an unprovoked attack that robbed a community of a beloved member.”

Perez, 33, of Blake Avenue, Brooklyn, pleaded guilty last month to manslaughter in the first degree before Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Yavinsky, who today imposed a sentence of 20 years in prison to be followed by five years of post-release supervision.

According to the charges, on November 26, 2021, the victim was sweeping the sidewalk and street in the area of 38^th Avenue near 97^th Street at approximately 8:00 am. As captured on security video footage, Perez picked up a large rock and struck Ma in the head. After Ma fell to the ground, Perez struck her in the head with the rock a second time.

Ma was taken to a local hospital where she underwent emergency surgery for severe head trauma and brain injuries. After a three-month hospitalization, Ma died from her injuries.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Jacqueline Rizk of the District Attorney’s Special Victims Bureau prosecuted the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Eric Rosenbaum, Bureau Chief, and Debra Lynn Pomodore and Brian Hughes, Deputy Bureau Chiefs, and under the overall supervision of then-Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Daniel Saunders.