Press Releases
BOYFRIEND OF WOMAN KILLED AND HIDDEN IN CAR TRUNK SENTENCED
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Kareem Flake was sentenced today to 22 years in prison for killing Destini Smothers, the 26-year-old mother of his two children, in November 2020. The victim’s remains were discovered four months later in the trunk of an abandoned car belonging to Flake. District Attorney Katz said: “The depravity…
FIVE PEOPLE CHARGED AFTER SEARCH WARRANT TURNS UP DRUGS AND WEAPONS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that five people have been arraigned on drugs and weapons charges after a search warrant executed at their Queens Village home uncovered four firearms, including an assault rifle, and more than 4 kilograms of fentanyl-laced cocaine and heroin with a street value of more than $200,000. A 10-year-old boy…
MAN CONVICTED OF ATTEMPTED MURDER FOR SLAMMING A 6-YEAR-OLD BOY ONTO PAVEMENT
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Laurence Gendreau was convicted of attempted murder, assault and other crimes for picking up a 6-year-old boy and slamming him into the pavement head first. The random assault took place outside the Kew Gardens home of the boy’s grandparents. Just two hours earlier, Gendreau stole an iPad from…
MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER IN SHOOTING IN SOUTH RICHMOND HILL
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Shawn Singh was arraigned today on murder and weapon possession charges for a shooting that killed 31-year-old Treva Sookmangal in South Richmond Hill on September 2. District Attorney Katz said: “Altercations escalating to gun violence cannot become the norm. We will not allow it in this borough. Those…
BROOKLYN MAN SENTENCED FOR STALKING WOMAN AND SETTING HER FOREST HILLS APARTMENT ON FIRE AFTER SHE ENDED RELATIONSHIP
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Steven Somerville was sentenced to 27 to 29 years in prison for repeatedly stalking and threatening a woman who broke off their relationship and then setting her apartment on fire. The woman was not home at the time of the blaze, having fled with her three children to…
UNLICENSED ACUPUNCTURIST CHARGED WITH CAUSING PATIENT’S LUNGS TO COLLAPSE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Yong De Lin was arraigned today, accused of administering acupuncture treatments he was not licensed to perform that caused a woman’s lungs to collapse. District Attorney Katz urges anyone who has received acupuncture treatments from Lin, who worked from a medical office in Flushing, to contact her office’s…
QUEENS MAN CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED MURDER IN STABBING
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Rahlik Pinnock was arraigned today for attempted murder after allegedly trying to solicit a woman to engage in prostitution and then stabbing her boyfriend, who had confronted him. District Attorney Katz said: “We have seen verbal disputes all too often escalate to brutal violence, in this case resulting…
MAN SENTENCED TO 7 YEARS FOR STABBING OVER PARKING SPOT
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Anthony Thomas was sentenced today to seven years in prison for stabbing a man in a dispute over a parking spot. The victim parked his car in front of Thomas’ home in Laurelton after moving traffic cones Thomas had set up to reserve the space. After a friend…
HUSBAND ADMITS MOWING DOWN WIFE WITH SUV, STABBING HER; PLEADS GUILTY TO ATTEMPTED MURDER
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Stephen Giraldo pleaded guilty today to attempted murder for slamming into his wife with his SUV and then stabbing her in the presence of the couple’s three children, who witnessed the assault as passengers in their father’s car. Their mother survived, but has not regained consciousness since the…
BROTHERS CHARGED WITH ASSAULTING OFF-DUTY OFFICER AND ATTEMPTING TO WREST FIREARM FROM HIM
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Shawn Rivera and Edwin Rivera were arraigned today on charges of first-degree assault and strangulation in an attack on an off-duty police officer after a traffic dispute near Queens Boulevard and 70th Street in Elmhurst. District Attorney Katz said: “We will not allow our streets to devolve into…
LONG ISLAND MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER IN SHOOTING DEATH OUTSIDE ST. ALBANS NIGHTCLUB
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Christopher King was arraigned today on an indictment charging him with murder in connection with the April shooting death of 23-year-old Jevaughn Jeminson outside the Pure Lounge nightclub in St. Albans. District Attorney Katz said: “More senseless gun violence, more tragedy, another young life cut short. It is…
MAN CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED MURDER AND RAPE IN ROOFTOP ATTACK ON WOMAN
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Jerson Vasquez was indicted by a grand jury and arraigned on attempted murder, rape and other charges for allegedly arranging to meet a woman for paid sex and then beating her and taking back the money he paid along with her cellphone. District Attorney Katz said: “The defendant…
TWO QUEENS MEN CHARGED WITH POSSESSING ARSENAL OF ILLEGAL WEAPONS AND STOCKPILE OF AMMUNITION
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Christopher Lall and Steve Salamalay were charged with multiple counts of criminal possession of a weapon after search warrants executed at their homes, a storage unit, and Salamalay’s workplace uncovered a dozen illegal firearms, including ghost guns, as well as high-capacity magazines, ammunition and gun manufacturing tools. District…
BROOKLYN MAN SENTENCED TO 25 YEARS TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR 2011 RIDGEWOOD MURDER
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Gerald Griffin was sentenced today to 25 years-to-life in prison for the murder of a 31-year-old man found naked and bludgeoned in 2011 in his Ridgewood home. District Attorney Katz said: “We will pursue justice, no matter how much time has passed. A murderer is going to prison…
AFTER EXHAUSTIVE INVESTIGATIONS, DA KATZ MOVES TO VACATE THREE WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz filed motions today with defense attorneys to vacate three wrongful convictions. In each case, new evidence came to light: In the case of Earl Walters, fingerprint evidence implicates other men in the 1992 abductions and robberies of two women for which Walters served 20 years in prison. A review of…
TEACHER CHARGED WITH RAPE OF 14-YEAR-OLD STUDENT
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced that Melissa Rockensies, a New York City public school teacher, was charged with rape for an alleged sexual relationship with a 14-year-old male student. District Attorney Melinda Katz said: “These disturbing allegations represent an abuse of authority and a betrayal of the trust students and parents place in…
MAN CONVICTED OF ATTEMPTED MURDER FOR WHITESTONE ATTACK ON BLACK LIVES MATTER DEMONSTRATORS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Frank Cavalluzzi was convicted of nine counts of attempted murder for attacking peaceful Black Lives Matter demonstrators in June 2020, first charging at them wearing a glove with serrated blades and then attempting to run them over driving his SUV on the sidewalk. District Attorney Katz said: “A…
MAN CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED MURDER IN ASTORIA ATTACKS BY SKATEBOARDER WIELDING BASEBALL BAT
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Matthew Lloyd was arraigned today on charges of attempted murder and assault for allegedly clubbing two men with a metal baseball bat he wielded while riding a skateboard. District Attorney Katz said: “The randomness of the attacks is as frightening as their brutality. As a city, we cannot…
SEXUAL PREDATOR SENTENCED FOR RAPING CHILD RELATIVE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Julio Fernando Pina-Illescas was sentenced to 17.5 years to life in prison for sexually assaulting a child relative over the course of 10 years, beginning when the girl was 4 years old. In a separate case, Pina-Illescas has been charged with abusing two other pre-teen girls. District Attorney…
MAN CHARGED WITH RAPE AND ASSAULT IN ROOFTOP ATTACK ON WOMAN
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Jerson Vasquez was arraigned on charges of rape, robbery and assault for allegedly arranging to meet a woman for paid sex and then viciously attacking her on a Jamaica rooftop and taking back the money he paid along with her cellphone. District Attorney Katz said: “The charges portray…
