Posts by Renea Henry
FAR ROCKAWAY MAN SENTENCED TO 43 YEARS IN PRISON FOR SEXUAL ABUSE OF STEPSON
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that a 43-year-old defendant was sentenced to 43 years in prison after being convicted at trial of sexually abusing his stepson. The abuse occurred over a period of seven years beginning when the youngster was 9 years old until he was 15 years old. District Attorney Katz said: “Instead…
Read MoreQUEENS MAN SENTENCED TO UP TO 17 YEARS IN PRISON FOR TARGETING EX-GIRLFRIEND FOR ATTACK
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Brayahan Agudelo was sentenced to 13.8 to 17 years in prison after pleading guilty to strangulation, stalking, burglary and other crimes for attacking his ex-girlfriend in 2025 and then enlisting an undercover police officer to harm her. Agudelo is accused of soliciting the officer, who was investigating the…
Read MoreQUEENS MAN CHARGED WITH SEXUALLY ABUSING 6-YEAR OLD IN JAMAICA DEPARTMENT STORE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Angel Farias was charged with sexual abuse and other crimes for touching a 6-year-old girl in a department store. Farias encountered the child, with whom he had no previous interaction, on April 16 and allegedly touched her genitals twice including once as the two were in the store’s…
Read MoreOWNER OF CLEANING COMPANY SENTENCED IN WAGE THEFT CASE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Christian Perez was sentenced to five years of probation after paying more than $28,000 in restitution to 30 former employees of cleaning companies he ran with his wife. The couple failed to pay wages owed to the workers. They are also banned from incorporating new companies in…
Read MoreFUGITIVE AND CODEFENDANT EXTRADITED TO FACE BURGLARY CHARGES AFTER FLEEING TO PANAMA
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Juan Acevedo was arraigned and remanded today on grand jury indictment charges of escape, criminal contempt and criminal mischief for fleeing the country days after his criminal court arraignment on burglary charges for allegedly breaking into homes in December 2025 and February 2026. The defendant was charged previously…
Read MoreWOMAN CHARGED WITH ARSON AND ASSAULT FOR SETTING FIRE AT THREE LOCATIONS IN MASPETH, THROWING A BRICK THROUGH A STOREFRONT WINDOW AND INJURING TWO
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Shaniqua Fort was charged with arson, assault, reckless endangerment and other crimes for allegedly setting fires at several storefront locations along Flushing and Grand Avenues in Maspeth during the evening of April 13. The defendant allegedly started a blaze that destroyed a Chinese restaurant and the apartments above…
Read MoreWOODSIDE MAN INDICTED ON FIRST DEGREE ASSAULT CHARGES FOR SLASHING TWO VICTIMS ON BROADWAY IN ASTORIA
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Antonio Quinones was indicted and arraigned on charges of assault, attempted assault and criminal possession of a weapon for attacking two people with a boxcutter outside of a fish market on Broadway in Astoria last month. District Attorney Katz said: “As alleged, this defendant took out a…
Read MoreYour Weekly Update – April 3, 2026
The defendant who shot and killed Detective Jonathan Diller was convicted this week of aggravated manslaughter in the first degree, attempted murder in the first degree and criminal possession of a weapon… (continued)
Read MoreJACKSON HEIGHTS MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO KIDNAPPING, RAPING AND ASSAULTING THREE YOUNG WOMEN
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Andres Portilla pleaded guilty to kidnapping, rape, assault and criminal sex act charges for holding captive three young women in his car where he raped and assaulted them. The defendant held one woman – a minor – in the car for two months, beat her with a wrench…
Read MoreFLUSHING MAN SENTENCED TO 25 YEARS TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR KILLING BAR PATRON
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Jason Schuler was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the stabbing death of Elliott Christopher Ortiz, a stranger the defendant encountered at a Flushing bar in September 2023. He attacked Ortiz with a large kitchen knife while both were on the bar’s patio. District Attorney…
Read MoreBRONX MAN CONVICTED OF MURDER FOR SHOOTING NEAR QUEENS COURTHOUSE ON NEW YEAR’S DAY IN 2021
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Richard Swygert was convicted of murder and other crimes for a deadly shooting incident outside the former Umbrella Hotel in Kew Gardens in 2021. Swygert shot and killed a 20-year-old Rosedale man and shot and injured two others in a dispute that erupted between factions of young…
Read MoreASTORIA MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER FOR STABBING DEATH OF 75-YEAR-OLD NEIGHBOR
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Dimitrios Manessis was charged with murder and weapon possession for the stabbing death of 75-year-old George Dourdounas in Astoria on Tuesday. The defendant allegedly ambushed the victim outside the man’s first-floor apartment, which was next door to his own, and then stabbed him. Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz…
Read MoreGLENDALE RESIDENT SENTENCED TO 17 YEARS IN PRISON FOR ATTACK ON 9-YEAR-OLD GIRL AND OFF-DUTY POLICE SERGEANT
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Feliz Enrique was sentenced to 17 years in prison for attacking a 9-year-old girl who was playing on a Glendale street. The defendant forcefully hit the child with an open hand in May 2025, knocking her to the ground. When an off-duty police sergeant who was nearby intervened…
Read MoreMASPETH MAN CONVICTED OF MURDER FOR STABBING FELLOW BAR PATRON IN THE HEART AT WOODSIDE BUS STOP
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Olmedo Osorio was convicted of murder in the second degree for the fatal stabbing of 55-year-old Freddy Jimenez during an argument at a Woodside bus stop in September 2022. The men had been inside the same bar shortly before the altercation. District Attorney Katz said: “This defendant brutally…
Read MoreVIRGINIA MAN CONVICTED OF 1992 COLD CASE MURDER OF FAR ROCKAWAY TEEN
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Jerry Lewis was convicted at trial of murder for strangling 15-year-old Nadine Slade to death in May 1992. The victim was found dead inside a bathroom her family shared with an adjacent unit at a multi-family home in Far Rockaway. The defendant was arrested in May 2023 after…
Read MoreNYPD OFFICER INDICTED FOR PERJURY AND OFFICIAL MISCONDUCT FOR FALSE TESTIMONY AND STATEMENTS IN GUN POSSESSION CASE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Miguel Vanbrakle, an NYPD officer, was indicted for perjury, tampering with physical evidence, official misconduct and other crimes for allegedly lying under oath and falsifying documents in a weapon possession case. The defendant’s testimony was allegedly contradicted by video from his body-worn camera. Vanbrakle was part of an…
Read MoreSOUTH CAROLINA MAN EXTRADITED; ARRAIGNED FOR EXECUTION-STYLE MURDER OF 21-YEAR-OLD EX-GIRLFRIEND
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that De’Ovryion Elijha Ray was extradited to New York and arraigned on an indictment charging him with murder and criminal possession of a weapon for the fatal shooting of 21-year-old Dashanna Donovan. The victim, Ray’s ex-girlfriend, was found shot dead inside her basement apartment in East Elmhurst on September…
Read MoreDISBARRED ATTORNEY SENTENCED TO ONE TO THREE YEARS IN PRISON FOR STEALING $1 MILLION FROM ASTORIA CHURCH
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Debra Hoskins was sentenced to one to three years in prison for stealing more than $1 million dollars from an Astoria church. Hoskins, now a disbarred attorney, pleaded guilty to grand larceny in November 2025. Between 2018 and 2020, Hoskins improperly accessed escrow funds from a real estate…
Read MoreQUEENS MAN ARRAIGNED ON ANIMAL CRUELTY CHARGES FOR TYING DOGS BEHIND CAR AND DRAGGING THEM
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Dan Bujor was charged with animal cruelty for tying two dogs behind his car in Long Island City and then driving through the neighborhood. Video captured by a bystander showed the dogs, named Marzipan and Nougat, forced to run behind the vehicle. District Attorney Katz said: “As alleged,…
Read MoreDRUG TRAFFICKING OPERATION DISMANTLED ALONG ROOSEVELT AVENUE CORRIDOR IN JACKSON HEIGHTS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel announced the indictment of 16 individuals charged with conspiracy, drug trafficking and other crimes following a long-term investigation into the sale of cocaine, fentanyl, crystal meth and other drugs on 93rd Street…
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