Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Rasheen Everett has been convicted of murder and tampering with physical evidence for the 2010 killing of a transgender woman inside the victim’s apartment in Glendale. Everett strangled the victim and proceeded to pour bleach over her body in an attempt to hide evidence before stealing her personal belongings.

District Attorney Katz said, “We are determined to seek justice for the victims and their loved ones, no matter how much times passes. Upon a reversal of a conviction through no fault of the prosecutors, my office built a strong case against this individual once again and we successfully proved that he callously murdered a young woman 14 years ago.”

Everett, 43, of Jefferson Street in Manhattan, was found guilty today of murder in the second degree, burglary in the second degree and tampering with physical evidence following a two-week jury trial before Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Yavinsky.  The defendant will be sentenced on November 14 and faces up to 25 years to life in prison.

Trial openings began on September 18, 2024, and closings occurred on October 2, 2024. The jury deliberated for approximately one hour.

According to the trial records, on March 27, 2010, at approximately 8:50 a.m., Everett entered the apartment of the victim, Amanda Gonzalez Andujar, 29, located on 62nd Street in Glendale, Queens.

Several minutes after he entered the apartment, the victim’s upstairs neighbors heard screams and loud banging consistent with a struggle. Police were called to the location, but no one answered the door when they tried to gain entry.

Approximately eighteen hours later, at 3:03 a.m., Everett was observed on video surveillance exiting Ms. Andujar’s apartment by himself while carrying two bags. The bags were later discovered to contain Ms. Andujar’s camera, keys, laptop, suitcase, coat and cell phone.

Three days later, at approximately 4:00 p.m. on March 30, 2010, concerned family members entered the apartment and found the body of Ms. Andujar lying on a bed with chemical burns across her body and a bottle of empty bleach nearby. The Medical Examiner later determined that the chemical burns occurred post-mortem, and that the cause of death was compression of the neck.

Everett fled the state but was arrested in Las Vegas on April 9, 2010. The defendant’s DNA was found under Ms. Andujar’s fingernails.

The defendant was originally tried and found guilty in 2013. That conviction was reversed due to a judicial error of the trial judge in 2021.

Assistant District Attorneys Eric Weinstein and Alyssa Mendoza of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau prosecuted the case, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys John Kosinski, Bureau Chief, and Karen Ross, Deputy Bureau Chief and Cold Case Unit Chief, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Shawn Clark.