Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Shmuel Levine, 34, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Supreme Court on murder charges. The defendant allegedly beat the 37-year-old victim to death in her home on October 26, 2020. Her battered remains were found below her apartment’s 6th floor window.

District Attorney Katz said, “This woman’s last moments of life were brutal. Images from her apartment show signs of a struggle – including strands of her hair, splattered blood and a dent in the wall about the size of a woman’s head. An argument with a loved one should never ever escalate to violence. This is the absolute worst outcome of domestic abuse. The defendant will be held fully accountable for his alleged actions.”

Levine, of Beach 135th Street in Rockaway Park,is expected to be arraigned next week before Queens Supreme Court Justice Richard L. Buchter on the single-count indictment charging him with murder in the second degree. If convicted, the defendant faces up to 25 years-to-life in prison.

District Attorney Katz said that, according to the charges, around 2:30 p.m. on Monday, October 26, 2020, Levine became embroiled in a verbal argument with the victim, Danielle Marrano, 37, inside her Ocean Promenade apartment in Rockaway Park. The dispute escalated into a physical confrontation, with the defendant allegedly putting the victim in a chokehold. Ms. Marrano’s body was discovered mangled on the ground several floors below her window by responding police officers.

The victim was immediately transported to a local Queens hospital where she was later pronounced dead. The results of the woman’s autopsy indicated Ms. Marrano suffered at least four fractures to her skull that contributed to her death. At least two of the fractures were inconsistent with injuries sustained from a fall.

Inside the apartment, police found hair that appeared to match Ms. Marrano’s and also observed a large dent in the wall, according to the charges.

The investigation was conducted by detectives of the New York City Police Department’s 100th Precinct Detective Squad.

Assistant District Attorneys Jonathan Selkowe and Bryan Kotowski 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 A. Appelbaum, Deputy Bureau Chiefs and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Daniel A. Saunders.