Press Releases
QUEENS MAN INDICTED FOR FATAL BAR SHOOTING
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Paublo Torres was indicted on charges of murder in the second degree, assault and other crimes for fatally shooting 34-year-old Denis Enrique Reyes-Nunez, his half-brother, at a crowded Hollis sports bar in February. The bar manager was also injured in the shooting. District Attorney Katz said: “As alleged,…
TEENAGER INDICTED FOR MURDER OF 15-YEAR JADEN PIERRE IN ROY WILKINS PARK
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that two defendants have been indicted on charges related to the shooting death and assault of 15-year-old Jaden Pierre during a large gathering of teens in Roy Wilkins Park last month. A group of teenagers allegedly set upon Jaden and beat him before one teen took out a gun…
FORMER CORRECTION OFFICER CHARGED WITH FILING PHONY DOCUMENTATION FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz and New York City Department of Investigation Commissioner Nadia Shihata announced that James Wilson was arraigned on charges of grand larceny and offering a false instrument for filing for submitting documentation falsely claiming that he had been treated by healthcare professionals in order to justify being out on sick leave…
DELIVERY DRIVER CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED ROBBERY FOR ATTACKING CARLOAD OF WOMEN IN WOODHAVEN; ASSAULTING MOTORISTS AND BYSTANDER
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Dauri Batita has been charged with attempted robbery, assault and other crimes for ramming into a carload of women with his cargo van, striking another vehicle and assaulting four men, two of whom he attempted to rob. Batita was wearing a blue vest bearing the Amazon logo and…
QUEENS MAN SENTENCED TO 17 YEARS TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR MURDERING MAN DURING SOUTH OZONE PARK DRIVE-BY SHOOTING
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Lovepreet Singh was sentenced to 17 years to life in prison for the murder of 31-year-old Satnam Singh during a drive-by shooting in South Ozone Park in June 2022. Singh and his co-defendant carried out a targeted hit in broad daylight on the victim, who was killed while…
QUEENS MAN SENTENCED TO UP TO 17 YEARS IN PRISON FOR TARGETING EX-GIRLFRIEND FOR ATTACK
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Brayahan Agudelo was sentenced to 13.8 to 17 years in prison after pleading guilty to strangulation, stalking, burglary and other crimes for attacking his ex-girlfriend in 2025 and then enlisting an undercover police officer to harm her. Agudelo is accused of soliciting the officer, who was investigating the…
GUY RIVERA SENTENCED TO 115 YEARS TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR FATAL SHOOTING OF NYPD DETECTIVE JONATHAN DILLER AND ATTEMPTED MURDER OF NYPD SERGEANT
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Guy Rivera was sentenced to 115 years to life in prison today after being convicted by a jury of aggravated manslaughter in the first degree and attempted murder in the first degree for fatally shooting NYPD Detective Jonathan Diller and attempting to murder NYPD Sergeant Sasha Rosen in…
TEENAGER CHARGED WITH MURDER FOR SHOOTING DEATH OF 15-YEAR-OLD JADEN PIERRE IN ROY WILKINS PARK
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Zahir Davis was arraigned and remanded today on charges of murder in the second degree, gang assault in the first degree and criminal possession of a weapon for the shooting death of 15-year-old Jaden Pierre in Roy Wilkins Park in St. Albans on April 16. District Attorney Katz…
DRIVER CHARGED WITH RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT AND RIOT FOR CHAOTIC CAR MEETUP ALONG MIDDLE VILLAGE-MASPETH BORDER
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Asil Assaidi was charged with reckless endangerment, riot and other related crimes for performing dangerous, fiery driving stunts near two gas stations near the border of Middle Village and Maspeth on April 18. As a crowd of bystanders stood nearby, Assaidi and another driver circled the intersection of…
TWO MANHATTAN MEN INDICTED FOR SELLING 38 ILLEGAL GUNS TO UNDERCOVER OFFICERS IN QUEENS AND THE BRONX
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz and New York City Police Department Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch announced today that Mouhamadou Sylla and Ncodjigui Sanogo are variously charged in a 131-count indictment with conspiracy, criminal sale of a firearm, weapon possession and other crimes for selling illegal guns during a long-term undercover investigation. One firearm sale took…
QUEENS MAN CHARGED WITH SEXUALLY ABUSING 6-YEAR OLD IN JAMAICA DEPARTMENT STORE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Angel Farias was charged with sexual abuse and other crimes for touching a 6-year-old girl in a department store. Farias encountered the child, with whom he had no previous interaction, on April 16 and allegedly touched her genitals twice including once as the two were in the store’s…
OWNER OF CLEANING COMPANY SENTENCED IN WAGE THEFT CASE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Christian Perez was sentenced to five years of probation after paying more than $28,000 in restitution to 30 former employees of cleaning companies he ran with his wife. The couple failed to pay wages owed to the workers. They are also banned from incorporating new companies in…
FUGITIVE AND CODEFENDANT EXTRADITED TO FACE BURGLARY CHARGES AFTER FLEEING TO PANAMA
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Juan Acevedo was arraigned and remanded today on grand jury indictment charges of escape, criminal contempt and criminal mischief for fleeing the country days after his criminal court arraignment on burglary charges for allegedly breaking into homes in December 2025 and February 2026. The defendant was charged previously…
WOMAN CHARGED WITH ARSON AND ASSAULT FOR SETTING FIRE AT THREE LOCATIONS IN MASPETH, THROWING A BRICK THROUGH A STOREFRONT WINDOW AND INJURING TWO
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Shaniqua Fort was charged with arson, assault, reckless endangerment and other crimes for allegedly setting fires at several storefront locations along Flushing and Grand Avenues in Maspeth during the evening of April 13. The defendant allegedly started a blaze that destroyed a Chinese restaurant and the apartments above…
SOUTH OZONE PARK MAN INDICTED FOR MURDER OF WIFE WHOSE REMAINS WERE FOUND IN SEPARATE LOCATIONS ALONG BROOKVILLE AND CROSS BAY BOULEVARDS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Rupchand Simboo was indicted on charges of murder and tampering with evidence for the homicide of his 33-year-old wife, Salisha Ali. The victim’s beheaded and dismembered torso, wrapped in plastic and a moving blanket, was initially discovered by sanitation workers near 149th Avenue and Brookville Boulevard on September…
WOODSIDE MAN INDICTED ON FIRST DEGREE ASSAULT CHARGES FOR SLASHING TWO VICTIMS ON BROADWAY IN ASTORIA
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Antonio Quinones was indicted and arraigned on charges of assault, attempted assault and criminal possession of a weapon for attacking two people with a boxcutter outside of a fish market on Broadway in Astoria last month. District Attorney Katz said: “As alleged, this defendant took out a…
JACKSON HEIGHTS MAN SENTENCED TO 40 YEARS IN PRISON FOR THE KIDNAPPING AND RAPE OF MULTIPLE VICTIMS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Andres Portilla was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the kidnapping and rape of three young women including two minors. He brutally beat one teen and kept her captive in his car for two months, locking the girl in the trunk while he wasn’t there. Portilla pleaded…
HOLLIS MAN CONVICTED FOR FATAL BEATING OF PAWN SHOP OWNER DURING 2022 ROBBERY
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Rodolfo Lopez-Portillo was convicted by a jury of fatally beating Arasb Shoughi during a pawn store robbery in March 2022. The defendant sold two watches to the 60-year-old store owner and then violently attacked the victim with what appeared to be a metal pipe, striking the man repeatedly…
BAYSIDE WOMAN SENTENCED FOR PIG BUTCHERING SCAM THAT TARGETED VICTIMS FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY; $2.5 MILLION IN RESTITUTION SECURED
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Tiffany Yang was sentenced today to 120 days in jail after paying a total of $2.5 million in restitution for her role in a pig butchering scam that impacted 13 victims across the country. The victims were befriended online and convinced to invest in fraudulent assets through fake…
MASPETH MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER AND ARSON FOR SETTING FIRE AT FLUSHING HOME THAT KILLED FOUR AND INJURED OTHERS, INCLUDING TWO FDNY MEMBERS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Roman Amatitla was charged with eight counts of murder in the second degree, arson in the first degree and related charges for setting a fire that killed four occupants of a Flushing building and injured seven others, including two firefighters. The defendant allegedly used matches from a nearby…