Press Release
QUEENS RESIDENT CHARGED WITH MACHETE ATTACK THAT KILLED HIS 29-YEAR-OLD NEPHEW
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Mahadeo Sukhnandan, 50, has been charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon in the brutal knife attack that claimed the life of a 29-year-old man, who lived in the basement unit at the same address as the defendant. The victim was repeatedly hacked and slashed to death in the early morning hours of Sunday, June 12, 2022.
District Attorney Katz said, “As alleged, the defendant brutally attacked the victim, who was his nephew, during the course of a heated argument inside the home that they shared. Sadly, the victim died as the result of the severe injuries. Violence should never be used as a response to an argument. The defendant is now in custody and faces justice in our courts.
Sukhnandan, of 187th Place, in Jamaica, Queens, was arraigned yesterday afternoon before Queens Criminal Court Judge Diego Friere on a complaint charging him with murder in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree. Judge Friere ordered the defendant to return to Court on June 17, 2022. If convicted, Sukhnandan faces up to 25 years-to-life in prison.
According to the charges, at approximately 4:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 12th, the defendant became embroiled in an argument with Neraz Roberts, 29, who was renting the basement apartment from the defendant and was also Sukhnandan’s nephew. The defendant allegedly used a machete to strike his nephew multiple times. Mr. Roberts was cut in the back, neck and sustained other injuries, causing his death.
The investigation was conducted by Detective Christopher Yazzo of the Queens 103rd Detective Squad of the New York Police Department.
Senior Assistant District Attorney Timothy Shortt, of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Peter McCormack III and John W. Kosinski, Senior Deputy Bureau Chiefs, and Karen Ross, Deputy Bureau Chief, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Daniel A. Saunders.
**Criminal complaints and indictments are accusations. A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.