Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that John Jahlik Hines, 27, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the shooting death of a Rosedale, Queens, resident. The victim was seated inside a van in Cambria Heights when the defendant fired multiple shots, killing him on June 3, 2018.

District Attorney Katz said, “The defendant in this case has now admitted to brutally gunning down the victim on a quiet Sunday morning. Senseless gun violence is tearing our communities apart – generating needless bloodshed and causing endless grief for families and friends of the victims. This is why my Office will continue to do everything possible to get guns off our streets and to stop the killings.”

Hines, of 111^th Avenue in Queens Village, today pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the first degree before Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder. The defendant will be sentenced on June 30, 2021. Justice Holder indicated he will order Hines to be incarcerated for 20 years, to be followed by five years’ post release supervision.

According to the charges, said DA Katz, at approximately 4:30 a.m., on June 3^rd, the defendant approached Derrick Stansbury, 26, as he sat inside a van parked on 230^th Street. The defendant pointed a gun toward the victim and shot multiple times into the vehicle. Mr. Stansbury was hit once in the chest and a second bullet entered his lower back. He died from the injuries.

The investigation was conducted by detectives assigned to the New York City Police Department’s 105th Precinct.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Tara DiGregorio, of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau, prosecuted the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Peter McCormack III, Senior Deputy Bureau Chief, John Kosinski and Karen Ross, Deputy Bureau Chiefs, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney of Major Crimes Daniel Saunders.