Press Releases
QUEENS WOMAN CHARGED WITH DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED AND VEHICULAR ASSAULT FOR SERIOUSLY INJURING 8-YEAR-OLD GIRL AND GRANDMOTHER DURING AFTERNOON COLLISIONS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Alexandra Lopez, 52, has been charged with vehicular assault, driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs and other crimes for the June 28, 2022 multiple collisions that took place on 31st Avenue in Queens. The defendant struck multiple vehicles and two pedestrians – an 8-year-old…
STATEMENT FROM QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ ON THE U.S. SUPREME COURT’S DECISION TO OVERTURN ROE V. WADE
A mere day after SCOTUS decided to put the lives of New Yorkers at risk by striking down our long-standing restrictions on guns, the majority of Supreme Court Justices have now decided to put the lives of millions of women across the entire nation at risk by overturning Roe v. Wade. This decision is beyond…
STATEMENT FROM QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ ON THE U.S. SUPREME COURT’S DECISION IN NEW YORK STATE RIFLE & PISTOL ASSOCIATION INC. V. BRUEN
The Supreme Court’s ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen significantly hinders our ongoing efforts to keep New Yorkers safe from gun violence. I am extremely disappointed in this decision by the highest court which creates undue burden on the commonsense gun laws in this State. We remain committed to…
JURY CONVICTS DEFENDANT OF ASSAULT IN THE FIRST DEGREE FOR STABBING MAN WITH BROKEN BOTTLE FOLLOWING MINOR CAR ACCIDENT
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Robert Finley, 46, has been convicted at trial of assault in the first degree for stabbing a man in the face with a broken glass bottle. A minor traffic incident escalated into a near-deadly altercation when the victim stepped out of his vehicle after his car was…
QUEENS MAN SENTENCED TO 18 YEARS IN PRISON FOR NEAR FATAL SHOOTING OF FORMER COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYER
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Jeffrey Thurston, 28, has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for shooting a former student athlete outside a deli on Springfield Boulevard in July 2020. The defendant was also sentenced for a burglary related to a March 2020 incident involving an estranged girlfriend and her son,…
TWO MEN INDICTED ON ATTEMPTED MURDER CHARGES FOR ROBBING ELDERLY WOMEN AND STABBING GOOD SAMARITAN PIZZERIA OWNERS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Supreme Gooding, 18, and Robert Whack, 30, have been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Supreme Court on attempted murder, assault, robbery and other charges. The defendants allegedly attacked two elderly women on two separate occasions in March and took their pocketbooks. The…
QUEENS RESIDENT CHARGED WITH MACHETE ATTACK THAT KILLED HIS 29-YEAR-OLD NEPHEW
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Mahadeo Sukhnandan, 50, has been charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon in the brutal knife attack that claimed the life of a 29-year-old man, who lived in the basement unit at the same address as the defendant. The victim was repeatedly hacked and slashed…
QUEENS MAN CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED MURDER, ASSAULT AND OTHER CHARGES FOR ATTACKS ON SUBWAY AND IN BAKERY
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Donny Ubiera, 32, has been charged with attempted murder, assault and other crimes for three attacks last week. Ubiera allegedly used a nail-embedded board to strike a man inside a Roosevelt Avenue bakery on June 8, 2022. The defendant is also accused of knife attacks on two…
DEFENDANT FOUND GUILTY OF MURDER IN DEATH OF NYPD DETECTIVE BRIAN SIMONSEN AND WOUNDING OF SECOND POLICE OFFICER DURING BOTCHED ROBBERY
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Jagger Freeman, 28, has been convicted at trial of murder, robbery, assault and other crimes for his role in the February 2019 cell phone shop robbery that resulted in the death of New York City Police Detective Brian Simonsen in February 2019. A second police officer was…
DEFENDANT INDICTED BY GRAND JURY FOR SLAYING OF PAWN SHOP OWNER; VICTIM WAS REPEATEDLY STRUCK WITH BLUNT OBJECT
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Rodolfo Lopez-Portillo, 48, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Supreme Court on murder charges and other crimes. The defendant allegedly struck and killed a 60-year-old pawn shop owner in broad daylight inside the Jamaica Avenue store in March 2022. District Attorney…
QUEENS MAN WHO BABYSAT SEVEN-YEAR-OLD GIRL CONVICTED FOR SEXUALLY ABUSING VICTIM FOR THREE YEARS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Jose Nivelo, 43, has been convicted of course of sexual conduct against a child for sexually abusing a seven-year-old girl over a three-year period starting in 2012. The defendant was babysitting the girl in his Queens home when the abuse occurred. DA Katz, when she was an…
BROOKLYN MAN CHARGED IN SCHEME TO STEAL JAMAICA HOME FROM ELDERLY WIDOW BY CLAIMING SHE DIED AND HE WAS HER SON
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, along with New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda and New York City Finance Commissioner Preston Niblick, announced today that Christopher Williams, 41, has been charged with grand larceny, falsifying business records, identity theft, scheme to defraud and other crimes. The defendant allegedly used forged paperwork to claim ownership of a…
QUEENS MAN SENTENCED TO 21 YEARS IN PRISON FOR 2019 FAR ROCKAWAY SHOOTING THAT KILLED MAN
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Michael Hall, 36, has been sentenced to 21 years in prison for the December 2019 fatal shooting of a 45-year-old man in front of a Far Rockaway deli. The defendant pleaded guilty to manslaughter last month in Queens Supreme Court. District Attorney Katz said, “Gun violence is…
QUEENS HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER CHARGED WITH FORCIBLY TOUCHING STUDENT AND OTHER CRIMES
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Shannon Hall, 31, a teacher at Jamaica Gateway to the Sciences High School has been charged with forcible touching, endangering the welfare of a child and other crimes for abusing two female students, 14 and 16, from the school. District Attorney Katz said, “As parents, each day…
BRONX MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO ATTEMPTED MURDER FOR BEATING WOMAN WITH NAIL-RIDDLED WOODEN PLANK
Queens District Melinda Katz announced today that James Fitzgerald, 55, has pleaded guilty to attempted murder for nearly killing his estranged girlfriend. The defendant attacked the woman in front of a Jamaica fish market, kicking and punching her then using a wooden beam embedded with nails to continue the beating on May 16, 2020. District…
BROOKLYN MAN SENTENCED TO EIGHT YEARS IN PRISON AFTER PLEADING GUILTY TO SEX TRAFFICKING A TEEN GIRL
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Jordan Adderley, 32, was sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to sex trafficking of a child, rape and other crimes. The defendant profited from the prostitution of a 16-year-old girl whom he drove to various hotels, including the now-closed Umbrella Hotel in Kew Gardens,…
GEORGIA DEFENDANT SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS IN PRISON FOR RAPING WOMAN IN QUEENS ALLEY IN 2020
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Rony Lopez Alvarez, 39, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to rape in the first degree. The defendant attacked a woman, dragged her into a dark alley and raped her in 2020. The defendant fled the state but was caught in Georgia…
NYPD OFFICER INDICTED AND CHARGED WITH TAMPERING WITH EVIDENCE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that NYPD Police Officer Kevin Martin, 45, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Supreme Court on tampering with evidence and other charges. The defendant failed to wear his body-worn camera during a March 2019 arrest in which an illegal gun was recovered….
QUEENS MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO ATTEMPTED MURDER FOR SHOOTING FORMER SUNY BUFFALO FOOTBALL PLAYER
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Jeffrey Thurston, 28, has pleaded guilty to attempted murder, criminal possession of a weapon and other crimes for shooting a former student athlete outside a deli on Springfield Boulevard in July 2020. The defendant also pleaded guilty to burglary charges for a March 2020 incident involving an…
QUEENS MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER FOR DEADLY STABBING OF FLUSHING RESIDENT
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Yang Zhang, 35, has been charged with murder, burglary and other crimes in the stabbing death of a 41-year-old man that took place in the early morning hours of Sunday, May 22, 2022. District Attorney Katz said, “This brutal act of violence is compounded by the seemingly…
Meet the DA
