Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Rahlik Pinnock was arraigned today for attempted murder after allegedly trying to solicit a woman to engage in prostitution and then stabbing her boyfriend, who had confronted him.

District Attorney Katz said: “We have seen verbal disputes all too often escalate to brutal violence, in this case resulting in serious injuries. The defendant evaded law enforcement for several months, but now that he is in custody, he will be held accountable for the serious charges against him.”

Pinnock, 34, of 115^th Road, Jamaica, was arraigned on a six-count indictment charging him with attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the first degree, attempted assault in the first degree, two counts of assault in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree. Queens Supreme Court Justice Michelle Johnson ordered Pinnock to return to court on September 18. If convicted, Pinnock faces up to 25 years in prison.

According to the charges:

• On February 1, 2022, at approximately 11:50 p.m., Pinnock approached a woman inside a liquor store at 115-30 Sutphin Boulevard in Jamaica, told her he was a pimp, and tried to solicit her to engage in prostitution.
• The woman phoned her 22-year-old boyfriend and told him what Pinnock had said to her. Her boyfriend went to the liquor store and confronted Pinnock. The two engaged in a verbal dispute.
• Pinnock left the store and drove away in a gray SUV. The man walked to his home along with his girlfriend. As he neared the house, Pinnock approached him from behind and chased him into the backyard. Pinnock pulled out a weapon and stabbed the man multiple times in the chest and arm and fled.
• A family member called 911 and police responded.
• The victim was taken to a local hospital where he underwent life-saving surgery for stab wounds that pierced through his lungs and into his heart.
• Pinnock was apprehended in Pennsylvania in June and extradited to New York on September 7.

Assistant District Attorney Kiran Cheema of the District Attorney’s Human Trafficking Bureau is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Jessica Melton, Bureau Chief, and Tara Digregorio, Deputy Bureau Chief, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Gerard Brave.