Press Releases
D.A. KATZ ANNOUNCES DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CHIEF KELLY SESSOMS-NEWTON AWARDED PRESTIGIOUS THOMAS E. DEWEY MEDAL FOR OUTSTANDING WORK
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Kelly E. Sessoms-Newton, Bureau Chief of the Domestic Violence Bureau is the Queens County recipient of the sixteenth annual Thomas E. Dewey Medal. The Thomas E. Dewey Medal is awarded each year by the Association of the Bar of the City of New York to an outstanding assistant…
LONG ISLAND MAN INDICTED FOR MURDER IN DEATH OF PREGNANT GIRLFRIEND WHOSE BODY WAS PULLED FROM AUTO AND DUMPED ON QUEENS EXPRESSWAY
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Goey Charles, 30, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and was arraigned in Supreme Court on murder charges in the October death of his pregnant girlfriend. District Attorney Katz said, “The defendant is accused of committing a despicable, irreparable act of domestic violence –…
QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY CO-HOSTS GUN BUY BACK EVENT WITH NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT THIS SATURDAY
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz and the New York City Police Department are hosting a Gun Buy Back event this Saturday at the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Long Island City this coming Saturday. District Attorney Katz said, “This is our third Gun Buy Back event of 2020. Every gun turned in this…
GUN RUNNERS INDICTED BY QUEENS COUNTY GRAND JURY FOR TRAFFICKING ILLEGAL FIREARMS USING THE IRON PIPELINE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that a crew of gun runners led by Jamaica resident Jessica Heyliger was arraigned in Queens Supreme Court, following a grand jury handing up a 182-count indictment. The defendants are variously charged with criminal sale of a firearm, criminal possession of a weapon, conspiracy and other crimes. Between…
QUEENS MAN SENTENCED TO 21 YEARS IN PRISON FOR MANSLAUGHTER IN STABBING DEATH OF DAUGHTER-IN-LAW
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Dahe Lin, 77, has been sentenced to 21 years in prison for manslaughter in the fatal stabbing of his daughter-in-law in broad daylight just outside their home in Ridgewood, Queens, in March 2019. District Attorney Katz said, “This defendant viciously attacked the wife of his son and…
LAGUARDIA AIRPORT WORKER SENTENCED TO JAIL FOR USING CELL PHONE TO RECORD WOMAN IN BATHROOM
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced that Samuel Rodriguez, 39, was sentenced to six months in jail after pleading guilty to using his cell phone to secretly record “pretty girls” using a public restroom at LaGuardia Airport where he worked in December 2018. District Attorney Katz said, “In pleading guilty, this defendant admitted to…
QUEENS GRAND JURY INDICTS MAN IN STABBING DEATH OF HIS WIFE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Manuel Villar, 50, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Queens Supreme Court on murder charges and other crimes for fatally stabbing to death his wife in the apartment they shared with their sons. The slaying occurred early in the morning in…
QUEENS COUNTY GRAND JURY INDICTS MAN IN SHOOTING DEATH OF WORKER HIT BY STRAY BULLET
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Jerald Bethea has been indicted by a grand jury and arraigned in Queens Supreme Court on murder and gun charges for shooting and killing a worker who was doing his job in the Astoria Houses in April 2020. The innocent bystander was hit by a bullet that…
TWO MEN CHARGED WITH KIDNAPPING FOLLOWING HOME INVASION
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced that defendants Tex Ortiz and Wilbert Wilson have been charged with kidnapping, burglary and other crimes for allegedly taking five people hostage – including a nine-month-old infant and a 92-year-old woman. The defendants are accused of bursting into a Richmond Hill home this past Tuesday and demanding money…
MAN CHARGED WITH VEHICULAR MANSLAUGHTER, DWI IN EARLY MORNING CRASH THAT KILLED HOSPITAL WORKER
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Alamin Ahmed, 22, has been arraigned on charges of vehicular manslaughter, driving while under the influence and other charges for the early Friday morning car crash that killed a hospital worker. “Few choices are more selfish than driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs,”…
QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ FILES JOINT MOTION WITH DEFENSE TO VACATE MURDER CONVICTION AND RELEASE A MAN INCARCERATED FOR NEARLY 26 YEARS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that she has filed a joint motion with the defense to vacate the murder conviction of Ernest “Jaythan” Kendrick, who has been incarcerated for nearly 26 years. This motion is based on newly discovered witnesses and the results of agreed-upon DNA analysis, which contradict significant aspects of the…
DA Katz Photo Kendrick Case
QUEENS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ with a team of investigators and staff from the Office’s Conviction Integrity Unit visiting the crime scene where a 70-year-old woman was stabbed to death in 1995 on the grounds of the Ravenswood Houses.
QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ NAMES VETERAN PROSECUTOR TO RUN NEW FRAUDS BUREAU
District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced that veteran prosecutor Joseph T. Conley III has been named to head the Frauds Bureau of the Queens District Attorney’s Office, which was created earlier this fall. District Attorney Katz said, “Joseph Conley’s distinguished career in law enforcement, including 16 years with the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, made…
QUEENS MAN INDICTED ON MURDER CHARGES IN DEATH OF GIRLFRIEND WHOSE BRUISED AND MANGLED BODY WAS FOUND UNDER 6TH FLOOR WINDOW
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….
QUEENS MAN INDICTED FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER FOR SHOOTING DELIVERY DRIVER WHO BLOCKED TRAFFIC WITH TRUCK IN JANUARY
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Queens resident Jahsheen Osbourne has been arraigned in Queens Supreme Court after a grand jury handed up two indictments charging the defendant with attempted murder, weapons charges and other crimes for allegedly shooting and seriously injuring a UPS driver in January. The victim was working and delivering…
QUEENS DRIVER INDICTED BY GRAND JURY IN DEATH OF FEMALE PASSENGER; DEFENDANT CHARGED WITH AGGRAVATED VEHICULAR HOMICIDE, MANSLAUGHTER AND OTHER CRIMES
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Nicholas Thompson, 35, was arraigned in Queens Supreme Court yesterday following a grand jury handing up a 13-count indictment charging the defendant with aggravated vehicular homicide, manslaughter, DWI and other crimes for a deadly car crash in September in Far Rockaway, Queens. Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said,…
Laser Electric Workers Photo
QUEENS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ presented checks totaling more than $1.5 million to victims of a prevailing wage scam. The money distributed is the stolen wages recovered by the DA’s Office following an investigation and the prosecution of Laser Electric and its owner Jagdeep Deol. The defendants pleaded guilty in September to failing to…
Laser Electric Workers Photo 2
QUEENS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ presented checks totaling more than $1.5 million to victims of a prevailing wage scam. The money distributed is the stolen wages recovered by the DA’s Office following an investigation and the prosecution of Laser Electric and its owner Jagdeep Deol. The defendants pleaded guilty in September to failing to…
QUEENS MAN CHARGED WITH ARSON AND OTHER CRIMES AFTER ALLEGEDLY SETTING FIRE TO VEHICLES IN TOW YARD; MORE THAN 100 FIREFIGHTERS RESPONDED TO JULY 2020 BLAZE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, joined by New York City Fire Department Commissioner Daniel Nigro, announced today that Egor Spiridonov, 30, has been charged with arson, criminal mischief and other crimes for allegedly setting a fire to his own tractor truck in a tow company’s lot after the vehicle had been impounded. The blaze burned…
DRUG DEALER FROM GREAT NECK PLEADS GUILTY TO CRIMINALLY NEGLIGENT HOMICIDE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Justin Lum, of Great Neck, has pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide and drug possession in separate incidents resulting in the deaths of his girlfriend and a male acquaintance. Both victims – who had previously overdosed on drugs supplied by the defendant – died after he re-supplied…
Meet the DA
