NEW YORK – A 44-year-old Queens man has been sentenced to 22 years in prison for shooting his 34-year-old wife during an argument at a local hotel, leaving her naked in the lobby with facial fractures and a scene of horror in the room ., prosecutors said on Friday.
Malcom White, of Elmont, was convicted of attempted murder and felony possession of a weapon in July after a two-week jury trial in the March 27, 2020 attack on his wife at the Hillside Hotel on Queens Boulevard in Jamaica.
According to trial testimony, EMTs and police who responded to a 911 call that day initially had difficulty finding the source of the distress call. A return phone call resulted in White sharing a hotel room with his wife, authorities said. When the EMTs called White’s room, he told them, “If you come here, I’ll blow your head off,” according to trial testimony.
Cops had arrived at the time and were looking for both White and his wife. She was found naked in the hotel lobby with a gunshot wound to her arm and several broken bones in her face, authorities said. Police kicked in the closed door to enter White’s hotel room and found blood splatters in several places in the room, according to court documents.
Police later recovered a bullet fired from an empty bathtub and found two mobile phones, one hidden under the mattress and one in the toilet. A tower of old tires under a broken window in the room led officers to search the area outside. White was found naked behind the hotel, authorities said. They also found an unloaded revolver near the back of the hotel.
“I think the sentence handed down today brings at least some peace to the victim as she continues to recover. I urge domestic violence victims who need safety planning services, or help obtaining a protective order or shelter, to call us or contact a Family Justice Center immediately,” Melinda District Attorney said Friday Katz.
