Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Gyasi Denis was indicted, charged with murder in the fatal beating of a 64-year-old man inside the victim’s Far Rockaway apartment. After leaving the apartment following the slaying, Denis is accused of returning and taking the victim’s bank card.

District Attorney Katz said: “As violent and brutal as this murder was, the defendant returned to the bloody crime scene to steal a bank card. The cold-blooded callousness of that act is perhaps the most chilling element. Remorseful or not, the defendant will be held accountable.”

Denis, 35, of Mott Avenue in Far Rockaway, was indicted on charges of murder in the second degree; criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree; grand larceny in the fourth degree; and criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth degree.

Denis faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Queens Supreme Court on February 29.

According to the charges:

• Between January 30 and February 2, Denis was at the McBride Street home of an acquaintance, Calvin Alexander, whom according to the defendant’s own admission, he struck repeatedly in the head and body with a wooden object, choked, and bit on the face.
• Sometime between 12:01 a.m. February 2 and approximately 12:40 a.m. February 3, Denis, according to his own admission, returned to Alexander’s apartment and stole a bank debit card bearing the victim’s name.
• On February 3, at approximately 12:54 a.m., Alexander’s body was found seated, propped up against a wall, in a vacant bedroom in his apartment. Blood was found throughout the victim’s bedroom.

The investigation was conducted by Detective Terrence Sloan of the New York Police Department’s 101^st Precinct Detective Squad under the supervision of Sergeant Harrison Berkowitz, commanding officer of the Sergeant Detective Squad, and Sergeant Christopher Reilly.

Senior Assistant District Attorney John Esposito and Assistant District Attorney Joseph Randazzo of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau are prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys John Kosinski, Bureau Chief, and Karen Ross, Deputy Bureau Chief, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Shawn Clark.