Justice Kenneth Holder of the State Supreme Court of Queens, New York, Thursday, Thursday, sentenced the illegal Guyanese Reeaz Khan to life imprisonment for the murder of the 92-year-old Dominican grandmother, María Fuertes on January 2, 2020.
The sentenced that you will have the right to ask for parole after you serve 22 years in jail, He also sexually assaulted the grandmother who was much loved in her Queens neighborhood where she was known as “La Abuela de los Gatos” because she used to care for and feed the cats she found on the streets.
“My lawyer coerced me,” he said Khan, 24, during sentencing stating he was tricked into accepting a plea deal for the murder.
International media highlight that the judge ordered the Guyanese to shut up, describing the argument as absurd to try to get the case dismissed.
Holder recounted in detail the plea negotiations that took place between Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz’s office and Khan before his guilty plea on June 20, the same day jurors were to be selected for his trial.
“I made you swear under oath,” the magistrate told him.
“You were questioned at length regarding your agreement to accept this statement,” he said.
The judge revealed that Khan told him that no one forced him to accept the agreement. and that he was satisfied with his legal representation, contradicting the statements of Khan on Thursday that his lawyer lied to him, telling him that he would only have to serve 11 years of the sentence.
“You just want to delay this case,” Holder told him, pointing out that Khan he had asked to fire a previous lawyer, delaying the trial for about a year.
“It’s over. We don’t talk anymore. You can appeal later,” the judge told him.
Khan told Holder that he was drunk at the time of the incident and that he did not remember what happened.
“That’s not who I am,” he said Khan. “My path is one of love and peace. I was under the influence. I was 21 years old.”
He insisted that the sentence is excessive and harsh. Holder denied Khan’s request to withdraw his statement and handed down the agreed sentence.
“This is easily the most despicable heinous crime I have encountered in a long time,” the judge said.
“You are clearly a threat to society. “You lost your right to walk with law abiding people”added the magistrate.
Holder reminded Khan that he will be subject to deportation at the end of his prison term, which would be impossible with the sentence imposed.
Before the murder Khan he had been free despite an immigration deportation order due to prior assault and weapons convictions.
Queens prosecutor Melinda Katz praised the sentence. “We have managed to remove a dangerous predator from our streets for his horrific assault on a defenseless elderly woman,” Katz said.
“I hope that the long prison term provides at least some comfort to the victim’s loved ones,” the prosecutor added in a statement.
Fuertes was walking near his home in the Richmond Hill (Queens) neighborhood on a very cold winter night to be able to feed the cats he found when Khan he attacked her and left her half naked on the icy pavement.
Ms. Fuertes, a mother of two, was found hypothermic and semi-conscious when a Good Samaritan called 911 and put one of the coats he was wearing on her until paramedics arrived.
2023-07-07 17:19:00
#Life #sentence #murderer #Dominican
