Press Releases
GRAND JURY INDICTS SECOND MAN FOR MURDER IN STRAY BULLET KILLING OF YOUNG MOTHER IN ASTORIA
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Benaiah Reid, 19, has been indicted by a grand jury and arraigned in Queens Supreme Court on murder charges and other crimes for the March 2021 shooting death of a 37-year-old mother of two children. The defendant was allegedly aiming to shoot a rival gang member. District…
QUEENS MAN CHARGED WITH SPREE OF KNIFE ATTACKS, INCLUDING ONE THAT KILLED SUBWAY RIDER
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Mark Albano, 34, has been charged with murder, attempted murder, attempted assault and other crimes for three separate stabbing incidents. The defendant allegedly killed a man at the Grand Avenue-Newton subway station on April 23, 2021 and was apprehended on Saturday, May 8th, following two knife attacks…
FOUR MEN INDICTED BY GRAND JURY IN BEATING DEATH OF WOMAN WHOSE BODY WAS FOUND STUFFED IN TRUNK OF CAR
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, joined by Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations New York Peter C. Fitzhugh, announced today that Allan Lopez, Jose Sarmiento, Anander Henriquez and Rigel Yohairo have been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Supreme Court on murder charges and other crimes for the beating…
QUEENS MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO SELLING DRUGS AND CARRYING AN ILLEGAL FIREARM
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Chris Lee, 30, has pleaded guilty to gun possession and drug sale charges. The defendant was caught carrying an illegal firearm and was observed during a long-term investigation selling both guns and cocaine between August 2019 and January 2020. District Attorney Katz said, “There is probably no…
LONG ISLAND WOMAN INDICTED FOR KILLING NYPD POLICE OFFICER IN FATAL HIT AND RUN CRASH LAST MONTH
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Jessica Beauvais, 32, has been indicted by a Queens grand jury charging her with aggravated manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter and other crimes for allegedly driving while intoxicated and striking a New York City Highway Police Officer on the Long Island Expressway in the early morning hours of April…
QUEENS MAN INDICTED BY GRAND JURY ON A HATE CRIME CHARGE FOR ATTACK ON ASIAN WOMAN OUTSIDE BAKERY IN FLUSHING
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Patrick Mateo, 47, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury on a hate crime, aggravated harassment, and other charges for allegedly attacking a 52-year-old woman outside a bakery on February 16, 2021. The victim was shoved so hard she needed nearly a dozen stitches to…
QUEENS SON CHARGED WITH MURDER OF MOTHER
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Pushkar Sharma, 28, has been charged with the murder of his 65-year-old mother yesterday morning. District Attorney Katz said, “What should have been a celebration of Mother’s Day became a brutal, tragic nightmare for a Queens family. The defendant in this horrific case allegedly choked, punched, sexually…
LONG ISLAND MAN INDICTED ON ATTEMPTED MURDER CHARGES FOR RAMMING SUV INTO UNMARKED POLICE CAR THAT NEARLY STRUCK DETECTIVE STANDING OUTSIDE VEHICLE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Antoine Sheppard, 52, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Supreme Court on attempted murder, drug charges and other crimes for allegedly intentionally slamming into a police car and shoving it with so much force that it nearly struck a detective standing…
DA KATZ: TWO MEN INDICTED ON SEX TRAFFICKING CHARGES FOR FORCING TEENAGE GIRLS INTO SEX INDUSTRY
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Lawrence Winslow and Alan Velvett have been indicted twice by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Supreme Court on kidnapping, sex trafficking, rape and other charges. The defendants allegedly coerced a 15-year-old girl to trade sex for cash for three days in February 2021 in…
FORMER ACCOUNTANT FOR DEMO COMPANY CHARGED WITH EMBEZZLEMENT FOR CREATING FAKE EMPLOYEES, PUTTING THEM ON THE PAYROLL AND CASHING CHECKS FOR NEARLY $2 MILLION
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Vedeyah Badal, 56, has been charged with grand larceny and other crimes for allegedly stealing millions of dollars from her employer for a third of the 22 years she worked at an interior and exterior demolition company in Maspeth, Queens. Between 2012 and 2019, the defendant in…
LONG ISLAND WOMAN CHARGED WITH KILLING NYPD POLICE OFFICER IN FATAL HIT AND RUN CRASH
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Jessica Beauvais, 32, has been charged with aggravated manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter and other crimes for allegedly driving while intoxicated and striking a New York City Highway Police Officer on the Long Island Expressway in the early morning hours of Tuesday, April 27, 2021. District Attorney Katz…
QUEENS MOTHER CHARGED WITH FIRST DEGREE MURDER FOR KILLING INFANT TWINS; SIX-WEEK OLD BABIES FOUND DEAD IN APARTMENT
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Danezja Kilpatrick, 23, has been charged with murder in the first degree, criminal possession of a weapon and other crimes for allegedly killing her son and daughter. The 46-day-old babies were found dead in the mother’s apartment in Woodside, Queens, Thursday afternoon. District Attorney Katz said, “This…
QUEENS MAN CHARGED WITH VEHICULAR MANSLAUGHTER IN DEADLY CRASHES THAT KILLED PASSENGER
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Harpreet Singh, 20, has been charged with vehicular manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and other crimes for allegedly driving while intoxicated, running a red light and crashing into two vehicles. A male passenger in the defendant’s car was injured and killed in the early morning collisions on Wednesday,…
FIGHT BETWEEN TWO SHELTER RESIDENTS ENDS WITH ONE DEAD AND THE OTHER CHARGED WITH MURDER; GOOD SAMARITAN INJURED TRYING TO BREAK UP BRAWL
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Jose Reyes, 28, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Supreme Court on charges of murder and other crimes for allegedly stabbing to death a resident of the Garden Inn Suites in Queens on Wednesday, March 17, 2021. A Good Samaritan who…
STATEMENT OF QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEYMELINDA KATZ ON MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO’S “SAFE SUMMER NYC” PLAN
As we move forward to re-open our great City, one of our top priorities must be putting an end to the scourge of gun violence. The Mayor’s Safe Summer NYC Plan puts forth a comprehensive, community-centered approach for a safe summer – and beyond – in my borough and throughout New York. We need to…
GRAND JURY INDICTS QUEENS MAN FOR MURDER IN KILLING OF YOUNG MOTHER HIT BY STRAY BULLET IN ASTORIA LAST MONTH
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Dajuan Williams, 19, has been indicted by a grand jury and arraigned in Queens Supreme Court on murder and other charges. Williams was allegedly aiming to shoot a rival gang member when a stray bullet hit and killed a 37-year-old mother of two young children in March….
DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ PRESENTS SPECIAL PROGRAM IN HONOR OF NATIONAL CRIME VICTIMS’ RIGHTS WEEK
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz presents a special program in honor of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. This virtual event takes place tomorrow, Wednesday, April 21, 2021 at 5 p.m. via Zoom. The District Attorney has invited several guest speakers from the Queens community and this livestreamed event will also feature live performances. The…
QUEENS MAN CHARGED WITH HATE CRIME FOR DRAWING SWASTIKA ON A NEIGHBORHOOD SYNAGOGUE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Ramtin Rabenou, 41, has been charged with criminal mischief as a hate crime and other crimes for allegedly defacing the Rego Park Jewish Center on Queens Boulevard with a swastika and for scrawling graffiti at multiple other locations in the area in February 2021. “Sadly, we have…
QUEENS MAN SENTENCED TWICE THIS MONTH FOR TWO SEPARATE CRIMES; DEFENDANT ORDERED TO PRISON FOR STEALING MAIL AND IDENTITY THEFT
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced that Asm Sharfuddin, 22, has been sentenced to more than three years in prison on burglary charges for stealing mail from residential boxes last September in Astoria, Queens. The defendant has also been sentenced in a separate case to up to three years in prison for assuming the…
MAN WEARING GLOVE OF BLADES SEEN ON VIRAL VIDEO ATTACKING BLACK LIVES MATTER PROTESTERS INDICTED BY GRAND JURY ON ATTEMPTED MURDER CHARGES
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Frank Cavalluzzi, 55, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Supreme Court on attempted murder, attempted assault and other charges for allegedly attacking peaceful demonstrators in Whitestone, Queens in June 2020. Videos of the peaceful demonstration that turned into a panicked spree…
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