Press Releases
QUEENS MAN SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS IN PRISON FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER OF SENIOR CITIZEN ON SUBWAY PLATFORM
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Brandon Harris was sentenced to 15 years in prison for pushing an 82-year-old woman from the Flushing-Main Street subway platform onto the train tracks in October 2024. The woman suffered fractured vertebrae and other injuries in the fall. The defendant pleaded guilty this month to attempted murder. District…
JACKSON HEIGHTS MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO KIDNAPPING, RAPING AND ASSAULTING THREE YOUNG WOMEN
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Andres Portilla pleaded guilty to kidnapping, rape, assault and criminal sex act charges for holding captive three young women in his car where he raped and assaulted them. The defendant held one woman – a minor – in the car for two months, beat her with a wrench…
FLUSHING MAN SENTENCED TO 25 YEARS TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR KILLING BAR PATRON
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Jason Schuler was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the stabbing death of Elliott Christopher Ortiz, a stranger the defendant encountered at a Flushing bar in September 2023. He attacked Ortiz with a large kitchen knife while both were on the bar’s patio. District Attorney…
18-YEAR-OLD CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED MURDER FOR UNPROVOKED STABBING OF 30-YEAR-OLD MOTHER OF THREE IN EAST ELMHURST
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Luis Emmanuel Valencia Ponce was arraigned on charges of attempted murder, assault and weapon possession for the unprovoked stabbing of a 30-year-old woman on her way to the bus in East Elmhurst Monday morning. Ponce allegedly followed the victim and stabbed her repeatedly with a knife just as…
BRONX MAN CONVICTED OF MURDER FOR SHOOTING NEAR QUEENS COURTHOUSE ON NEW YEAR’S DAY IN 2021
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Richard Swygert was convicted of murder and other crimes for a deadly shooting incident outside the former Umbrella Hotel in Kew Gardens in 2021. Swygert shot and killed a 20-year-old Rosedale man and shot and injured two others in a dispute that erupted between factions of young…
FATHER INDICTED FOR MURDERING 2-YEAR-OLD SON
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Dayvon Morrison was indicted for murder and child endangerment for causing fatal injuries to his 2-year-old son, Maliek, inside their residence in Long Island City. District Attorney Katz said: “A parent’s most sacred responsibility is ensuring the safety of their children. As alleged, this defendant chose to…
DISTRICT ATTORNEY KATZ HOSTS 11TH ANNUAL MOCK TRIAL COMPETITION
The Queens District Attorney’s Office hosted its 11th Annual Mock Trial Competition this weekend at Queens Criminal Court. The event attracted students from 18 nationally ranked law schools, who competed before senior prosecutors and members of the defense bar with New York Supreme and Criminal Court judges presiding on the bench. Stetson University College of…
SEX TRAFFICKER SENTENCED TO 44 ½ TO 52 YEARS IN PRISON FOR ABUSING THREE WOMEN
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Cleveland Sterling was sentenced to 44 ½ to 52 years in prison after being convicted at trial of sex trafficking, promoting prostitution, robbery and other related crimes. The defendant forced two women to repeatedly engage in prostitution, assaulted them when they refused to follow his orders and forcibly…
HUSBAND CHARGED WITH MURDER AND DISMEMBERMENT OF WIFE WHOSE REMAINS WERE FOUND IN SEPARATE LOCATIONS ALONG BROOKVILLE BLVD AND CROSS BAY BLVD
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Rupchand Simboo has been charged with murder, concealment of a human corpse, tampering with evidence and other crimes for the homicide of his 33-year-old wife, Salisha Ali. The victim’s beheaded and dismembered torso, wrapped in plastic tarp and a blue blanket, was initially discovered by NYC Sanitation workers…
FARMINGDALE MAN INDICTED FOR AGGRAVATED VEHICULAR HOMICIDE, DRUNK DRIVING AND OTHER CHARGES AFTER COLLISION THAT KILLED MAN NEAR LONG ISLAND EXPRESSWAY
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that John Ankelman was indicted by a grand jury on charges of aggravated vehicular homicide, driving while intoxicated and other crimes for a December 26, 2025, collision during a snowstorm that seriously injured a 63-year-old man who later died. This incident took place near the Long Island Expressway in…
FOUR REPUTED GANG MEMBERS INDICTED ON MURDER AND CONSPIRACY CHARGES FOR SHOOTING DEATH OF 16-YEAR-OLD INNOCENT BYSTANDER
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Messiah Randall, Jomar Pointdujour, Nicolson Pierrimas and Zaire Rolley, reputed members and associates of the 007 gang, have been indicted on charges of murder, conspiracy and criminal possession of a weapon for their alleged roles in the shooting death of 16-year-old Claudia Quatey in May 2023 in St….
MASPETH MAN SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR MURDER AT WOODSIDE BUS STOP
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Olmedo Osorio was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for fatally stabbing 55-year-old Freddy Jimenez during an argument at a Woodside bus stop in September 2022. Osorio was convicted by a jury in January of multiple charges connected to the deadly incident. District Attorney Katz said:…
ASTORIA MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER FOR STABBING DEATH OF 75-YEAR-OLD NEIGHBOR
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Dimitrios Manessis was charged with murder and weapon possession for the stabbing death of 75-year-old George Dourdounas in Astoria on Tuesday. The defendant allegedly ambushed the victim outside the man’s first-floor apartment, which was next door to his own, and then stabbed him. Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz…
WOODSIDE MAN CHARGED WITH TWO COUNTS OF ASSAULT FOR SLASHING TWO VICTIMS ON BROADWAY IN ASTORIA
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Antonio Quinones was arraigned on two counts of assault in the first degree, criminal possession of a weapon and other crimes for attacking two victims with a sharp blade outside of a fish market on Broadway in Astoria on Monday. One of the victims suffered a deep laceration…
AMITYVILLE MAN INDICTED ON MANSLAUGHTER, DRUNK DRIVING AND OTHER CHARGES AFTER COLLISION THAT KILLED FEMALE PASSENGER
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Kenyatta Weston Jr. was indicted by a grand jury on charges of manslaughter, driving under the influence, criminal possession of a weapon and other charges for a February 8, 2025, crash on the Belt Parkway that resulted in the death of 27-year-old Elizabeth Vanessa Perla-Hernandez. The defendant is…
GLENDALE RESIDENT SENTENCED TO 17 YEARS IN PRISON FOR ATTACK ON 9-YEAR-OLD GIRL AND OFF-DUTY POLICE SERGEANT
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Feliz Enrique was sentenced to 17 years in prison for attacking a 9-year-old girl who was playing on a Glendale street. The defendant forcefully hit the child with an open hand in May 2025, knocking her to the ground. When an off-duty police sergeant who was nearby intervened…
QUEENS MAN SENTENCED TO UP TO 14 YEARS IN PRISON FOR TRAFFICKING TEEN GIRL AND WEAPON POSSESSION
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Troy Siddons was sentenced to seven to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty in April 2025 to sex trafficking and weapon possession charges. Siddons admitted that he paid a 14-year-old girl $300 for sex and then threatened and coerced her to engage in sex acts with…
MARRIED COUPLE PLEADS GUILTY IN WAGE THEFT CASE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that married couple Christian Perez and Ines Perez Miranda, along with their two cleaning companies, pleaded guilty to failing to pay wages for company employees. The defendants were ordered to make restitution to 30 victims totaling over $28,000. District Attorney Katz said: “These defendants failed to pay their…
QUEENS MAN SENTENCED TO 22 ½ YEARS IN PRISON FOR STRANGLING LANDLADY
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Davi Vidal was sentenced to 22 ½ years in prison for killing his 55-year-old landlady, Zoraida Leo, by strangulation in December 2023. Vidal, also known as Deiby Vidal, leased an attic unit in the victim’s multi-unit residence in East Elmhurst for two years before the deadly confrontation over…
JAMAICA RESIDENT INDICTED ON VEHICULAR MANSLAUGHTER CHARGE FOR EARLY MORNING COLLISION THAT KILLED SCOOTER OPERATOR
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Ryan Rampersaud was indicted on charges of vehicular manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and driving under the influence for a January 2026 collision that killed Blanca Arias-Miranda in Astoria, who was operating a scooter. District Attorney Katz said: “As alleged, the defendant was driving while intoxicated, barreled into a…