Announcements
DISTRICT ATTORNEY KATZ ANNOUNCES PILOT INITIATIVE TO FIGHT RETAIL THEFT WILL EXPAND ACROSS QUEENS
Program’s Success in Jamaica, Flushing and Astoria Leads to Expansion Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz and the NYPD announced the borough-wide expansion of the Merchants Business Improvement Program, an initiative to combat repeat shoplifting and the harassment and threatening of customers and store staff by the handful of individuals responsible for many of the disruptions…
DISTRICT ATTORNEY KATZ, NYPD ANNOUNCE EXPANSION OF BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM TO ASTORIA
Rollout Follows Successful Program Launches in Jamaica and Flushing Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, together with NYPD officials and members of the western Queens business community, today announced the launch of the Astoria Merchants Business Improvement Program, designed to enhance safety in and around local shops. The program focuses on the small number of individuals…
QUEENS DA MELINDA KATZ AND THE NYPD ANNOUNCE PROGRAM TO HELP FLUSHING MERCHANTS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz joined by NYPD officials, members of the Flushing business community and elected officials today announced the Flushing Merchants Business Improvement Program to enhance safety for retailers and shoppers by discouraging unwanted activity in and around local stores. The initiative is based on a successful launch of the Jamaica Merchants Business…
QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ APPOINTS 5 NEW ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEYS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced the appointment of five new assistant district attorneys to join the Queens District Attorney’s Office. District Attorney Katz said: “I am proud to welcome this group of talented professionals into the Queens District Attorney’s office. I look forward to working with them in support of this office’s mission…
DISTRICT ATTORNEY KATZ APPOINTS NEW CHIEF OF STAFF WENDY ERDLY
District Attorney Melinda Katz announced the appointment of Wendy Erdly as Chief of Staff. Erdly joins the office after nearly a decade of public service experience, most recently at the New York State Department of Financial Services as Deputy Superintendent for Cybersecurity. District Attorney Katz said: “I am pleased to welcome Ms. Erdly to the…
DISTRICT ATTORNEY KATZ LAUNCHES STATE’S FIRST PROSECUTION OF INTERNATIONAL GHOST GUN TRAFFICKING OPERATION
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced the indictment of a Queens man and his associate in Texas, charging them with assembling ghost guns and selling the untraceable firearms in New York City and Trinidad. The case is the first prosecution in New York State of an international ghost gun trafficking operation. The investigation was conducted…
DEFENDANT SENTENCED FOR FATAL SHOOTING OF GROCERY EMPLOYEE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Dewayne Henry was sentenced today to 25 years to life in prison for fatally shooting a 65-year-old grocery clerk during a botched robbery in Jamaica in 2011. The defendant has been incarcerated on unrelated charges for much of the time since the murder. District Attorney Katz said: “Today’s…
DEFENDANT SENTENCED TO 20 YEARS FOR DEADLY SHOOTING
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Edson Giron Figueroa was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the 2021 shooting death of a 25-year-old. District Attorney Katz said: “This is a case of yet another young person’s life cut short by gun violence. We will continue to fight against illegal guns with everything we…
33 REPUTED GANG MEMBERS INDICTED ON MURDER, GUN VIOLENCE CHARGES
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, joined by NYPD Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell, announced one of the largest gang takedowns in the history of the office, a 151-count indictment brought against 33 alleged gang members, five of whom are charged with murder. The murder charges are for the shooting death of 14-year-old Aamir Griffin, gunned down in…
NEW JERSEY MAN INDICTED FOR EXECUTION-STYLE MURDER
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Ron Reeder was indicted for an execution-style murder in broad daylight in September 2021. Wearing a mask and garments typically worn by Hasidic Jewish men, Reeder ran up behind the victim, who was entering a car parked on a South Ozone Park street, and shot him in the…
MAN CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED MURDER IN QUEENS DELI SHOOTING
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Donnie Hudson has been charged with attempted murder, assault and other crimes in connection with yesterday’s shooting in a South Ozone Park deli. District Attorney Katz said: “This was a brutal, calculated assault using battlefield weaponry. Under absolutely no circumstances are we going to stand for turning our…
23 REPUTED GANG MEMBERS CHARGED WITH CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT MURDER, ATTEMPTED MURDER, RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT AND GUN POSSESSION
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, joined by Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell, announced that a two-year investigation into gang violence in and around two Queens public housing developments led to the indictments of 23 alleged members of warring subsets of the Crips street gang, one based in the Astoria Houses, the…
BROOKLYN WOMAN CONVICTED OF ATTEMPTED MURDER IN CHEESECAKE POISONING OF QUEENS LOOK-ALIKE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Viktoria Nasyrova has been convicted by a jury of attempted murder and other charges for poisoning a Queens woman who resembled her with sedative-laced cheesecake and then stealing her identification and other property in August of 2016. District Attorney Katz said: “The jury saw through the deception and…
QUEENS MAN SENTENCED FOR SEXUALLY ABUSING WOMAN ON STREET
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Basam Syed was sentenced today to three years in prison after pleading guilty to persistent sexual abuse following charges of forcibly rubbing his genitals on a woman last summer. District Attorney Katz said: “The sentence punishes the defendant’s lewdness and should teach him that his disgusting behavior has…
QUEENS MAN SENTENCED FOR BURGLARY
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Marquis Silvers was sentenced to 2 years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted burglary. District Attorney Katz said: “I want to thank the Rockaway Nassau Safety Patrol for their help and relentless efforts in getting this defendant off the streets. My priority will always be to keep…
BRONX MAN SENTENCED AS PERSISTENT VIOLENT FELON FOLLOWING LONG ISLAND CITY SLASHING
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Bobby Dee Cruz was sentenced to 18 years-to-life in prison as a persistent violent felon after being convicted for slashing the neck of a fellow patron at a Long Island City strip club in 2019. District Attorney Katz said: “Thankfully, the victim survived this unprovoked grisly attack, which…
LITTLE NECK MAN SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS IN PRISON FOR KIDNAPPING AND ATTEMPTING TO STRANGLE WIFE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Yaspal Persaud was sentenced today to 15 years in prison for kidnapping his estranged wife from where she worked, in full view of stunned onlookers, as well as strangling her on a previous date. The defendant led police on a multi-county, high-speed chase before he was apprehended with…
DISTRICT ATTORNEY KATZ CREATES NEW PROSECUTORIAL DIVISION, ANNOUNCES SENIOR-LEVEL APPOINTMENTS
District Attorney Melinda Katz announced the creation of a division in her office that will be dedicated to investigating and prosecuting criminals who prey on society’s most vulnerable. The Special Prosecutions Division, comprised of the Special Victims and Domestic Violence Bureaus and the Juvenile Prosecutions Unit, will be led by newly appointed Executive Assistant District…
DEFENDANTS SENTENCED FOR SLAYINGS IN SOUTH RICHMOND HILL, OZONE PARK
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Richard Davenport and Neville Brown were sentenced on manslaughter charges in connection with four fatal shootings that took place in South Richmond Hill and Ozone Park between 2015 and 2018. Davenport was sentenced a combined total of 29 years in prison, consisting of consecutive 14.5-year sentences, and Brown…
TWO SENTENCED FOR FORCING TEENAGE GIRLS INTO SEX INDUSTRY
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Lawrence Winslow and Alan Velvett were each sentenced today to 10 years in prison for sex trafficking of a child and rape. The defendants forced three underaged victims into the sex industry in February 2021. One of the victims was coerced into having intercourse with both defendants. District…
