Press Releases
MANHATTAN MAN SENTENCED TO 13 YEARS FOR KIDNAPPING IN BOTCHED RICHMOND HILL HOME INVASION
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Tex Ortiz was sentenced today to 13 years in prison for a kidnapping in which five people – including a 9-month-old – were held at gunpoint during a botched home invasion robbery that turned into a hostage standoff in Richmond Hill in 2020. The case against his co-defendant…
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…
NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBOR INDICTED IN MURDER OF 10-YEAR-OLD BOY IN FAR ROCKAWAY
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Ashram Lochan was arraigned today on an indictment charging him with murder in connection with a 2021 shooting, apparently sparked by a dispute over a shared driveway, that killed 10-year-old Justin Wallace and seriously injured his cousin, 29-year-old Kyle Forrester. Lochan allegedly acted in concert with Jovan Young,…
BRONX MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER IN SMOKE SHOP SHOOTING
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Albert Edwards was arraigned on charges of murder, robbery and weapon possession in the March 18 robbery of a Richmond Hill smoke shop during which a 20-year-old employee was fatally shot. District Attorney Katz said: “A young man lost his life in a senseless act of gun violence….
QUEENS WOMAN SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS FOR TRAFFICKING ILLEGAL FIREARMS USING THE IRON PIPELINE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Jessica Heyliger was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for heading a ring that sold guns and ammunition brought to Queens from the south via the Interstate 95 “Iron Pipeline.” District Attorney Melinda Katz said: “This defendant trafficked illegal lethal weapons with no regard for the bloodshed…
DOCTOR CHARGED WITH SEXUALLY ASSAULTING PATIENTS IN HOSPITAL, RAPING ACQUAINTANCES AT HIS HOME
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Dr. Zhi Alan Cheng was arraigned today on a 50-count indictment charging him with sexually abusing three patients at New York-Presbyterian Queens hospital and raping three other women in his Queens home. Cheng was previously indicted in December for allegedly raping a female acquaintance in his apartment. Cheng…
QUEENS WOMAN INDICTED IN FATAL CRASH THAT KILLED ONE, SERIOUSLY INJURED ANOTHER
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Semone Douglass was arraigned today on an indictment charging her with manslaughter, assault and leaving the scene in connection with a high-speed car crash on the Van Wyck Expressway that killed a passenger in another vehicle and seriously injured its driver. District Attorney Katz said: “We have all…
QUEENS MAN CHARGED WITH MURDERING HIS MOTHER AND BROTHER
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Roscoe Danielson was arraigned today on an indictment charging him with two counts of murder and concealment of a human corpse in connection with the shooting death of his younger brother and stabbing death of his mother. His brother’s body was found in a black plastic garbage bag…
BRONX WOMAN CHARGED WITH MURDER FOR HIGH-SPEED CRASH THAT KILLED PASSENGER IN UBER
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Melissa Rodriguez-Lopez was arraigned today on an indictment charging her with murder and manslaughter for a high-speed car crash that killed a passenger in an Uber allegedly struck by Rodriguez-Lopez while drag racing at up to 123 miles an hour on the Whitestone Expressway. District Attorney Katz said:…
MAN ARRAIGNED IN SCOOTER SHOOTING SPREE THAT LEFT ONE DEAD AND TWO OTHERS WOUNDED IN QUEENS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Thomas Abreu was arraigned today on an indictment charging him with murder and five counts of attempted murder after allegedly going on a shooting spree while riding a scooter and killing an 86-year-old man and wounding two others in Queens. District Attorney Katz said: “This is a chilling…
BOYFRIEND OF WOMAN KILLED AND STUFFED IN CAR TRUNK PLEADS GUILTY
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Kareem Flake pleaded guilty to manslaughter for killing 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 the defendant. District Attorney Katz said: “This young mother was brutally murdered and…
MAN INDICTED IN SCOOTER SHOOTING SPREE THAT LEFT ONE DEAD AND TWO OTHERS WOUNDED IN QUEENS
Faces Up to Life in Prison Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Thomas Abreu was charged today in a 14-count indictment with murder and five counts of attempted murder after allegedly going on a shooting spree while riding a scooter, killing an 86-year-old man and wounding two others in Queens. District Attorney Katz said:…
QUEENS MAN INDICTED ON VEHICULAR HOMICIDE, DWI AND OTHER CHARGES IN DEADLY RICHMOND HILL CRASH
Faces up to 25 Years in Prison if Convicted Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Tamir Khan was arraigned today in Queens Supreme Court on an indictment charging him with aggravated vehicular homicide, driving under the influence and other crimes for a deadly collision in the early morning hours of June 5 that killed…
QUEENS RESIDENT SENTENCED TO 30 YEARS TO LIFE FOR MURDER AND PRIOR ASSAULT OF 30-YEAR-OLD FAR ROCKAWAY FATHER
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Jahvon Frazier was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for killing a Far Rockaway man in an unprovoked shooting in August 2020 as well as a previous assault. District Attorney Katz said, “Three children will have to grow up without their father because of this…
MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER IN RANDOM SHOOTING SPREE
Defendant Faces 25 Years-to-Life in Prison Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Thomas Abreu has been charged with murder, attempted murder, assault and weapon possession in a Saturday morning shooting spree that killed an 86-year-old man and injured three others in Queens and Brooklyn. District Attorney Katz said: “The streets of two boroughs were…
DRIVER CHARGED WITH MANSLAUGHTER AND DWI AFTER COLLISION THAT KILLED CITY WORKER IN RICHMOND HILL
Defendant Allegedly Sped Through Intersection, Hitting City Truck Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Errick Persaud was arraigned on charges of manslaughter and driving while under the influence after allegedly slamming his Mercedes-Benz into a New York City Department of Environmental Protection truck in Richmond Hill Thursday and killing a 36-year-old worker sitting inside….
DELI WORKERS INDICTED FOR ALLEGEDLY ASSAULTING CUSTOMER
Face Up to 15 years in Prison on First Degree Strangulation Charges Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Saber Abuhamra and Jorge Hernandez were each indicted and arraigned today on a charge of strangulation in the first degree and other crimes for allegedly coming out from behind the counter of a Rockaway Park deli…
QUEENS MAN SENTENCED TO 22 YEARS TO LIFE FOR MURDERING 92-YEAR-OLD WOMAN
Winter Attack in Street Left Victim Battered on Freezing Pavement for Hours Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Reeaz Khan was sentenced to prison today for the murder and attempted rape of a 92-year-old woman he brutally attacked and left to die near her Richmond Hill home on a frigid night in 2020. An…
MANHATTAN MAN SENTENCED TO EIGHT YEARS FOR ROBBERY
Acted With Brother-in-Law to Steal Purses Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Supreme Gooding was sentenced today to eight years in prison in connection with purse snatchings targeting older women in March 2022. One of the incidents led to the stabbing of two Good Samaritans who intervened to help a victim. District Attorney Katz…
ALBANY RESIDENT SENTENCED TO SEVEN YEARS IN PRISON FOR DRAG-RACING CRASH THAT KILLED HOSPITAL WORKER
Co-defendant Awaiting Sentencing Next Month Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Alamin Ahmed was sentenced today to seven years in prison in connection with the drag-racing crash in Kew Gardens Hills that killed a hospital worker in November 2020. Co-defendant Mir Fahmid is awaiting sentencing. District Attorney Katz said: “These men used the streets…
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