Press Release

EAST ELMHURST MAN INDICTED ON MANSLAUGHTER CHARGES FOR SHOVING 71-YEAR-OLD MAN DOWN STOOP STAIRS

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced that a Queens County grand jury has indicted a 22-year-old East Elmhurst man on manslaughter and assault charges for a deadly push that sent the elderly victim flying down the front steps of a two-story house on 102nd Street in Queens last month. The victim’s head slammed into the sidewalk and he died soon afterwards at a nearby hospital.

District Attorney Katz said, “This was a horrible incident captured on a Ring doorbell video. The victim was pushed with so much force it propelled the 71-year-old man over the stairs and onto the pavement, where he struck his head and later died.”

The District Attorney’s Office identified the defendant as Alex Garces, 22, of 32nd Avenue in the East Elmhurst section of Queens. The defendant was arraigned today before Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth C. Holder on an indictment charging him manslaughter in the first and second degree and assault in the second degree. Justice Holder ordered Garces to return to court on March 18, 2020. If convicted, Garces faces up to 25 years in prison.

According to the charges, said DA Katz, at approximately 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, January 12, 2020, Mr. Edgar Moncayo can be seen on a front door video cam talking on a cell phone and standing on the stoop of the 102nd Street home. The defendant, who was inside the residence, then allegedly shoved the victim with such force that the 71-year-old man fell backward down the steps and onto the sidewalk below. The victim’s head slammed against the pavement so hard he suffered a traumatic brain injury. The elderly man was rushed to a nearby hospital where he died.

The investigation was conducted by Detective Douglas Deotto of the New York City Police Department’s 115th Precinct.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Tara DiGregorio of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau, is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Brad A. Leventhal, Bureau Chief, Peter J. McCormack III, Senior Deputy Bureau Chief, John W. Kosinski and Kenneth M. Appelbaum, Deputy Bureau Chiefs, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Daniel A. Saunders.

It should be noted that an indictment is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

**Criminal complaints and indictments are accusations. A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.