Man cops plea to murdering sister-in-law

A Long Island man interrupted the start of his murder trial to plead guilty to manslaughter in the February 2005 fatal shooting of his pregnant former sister-in-law whose lifeless body was discovered in the trunk of her automobile in Jamaica.
“The defendant admitted to fatally shooting his former sister-in-law once in the head moments before prosecutors were about to give their opening statement in front of a Queens jury charging that the defendant shot and killed the 26-year-old woman to prevent her from telling his brother - her ex-husband - that she was pregnant with the defendant’s baby,” said District Attorney Richard A. Brown. “The victim leaves behind a young daughter who must now face life without her.”
Steven Schiovone, 37, of Levittown, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Sentencing has been set for May 10 at which time Schiovone will face a determinate term of 30 years in prison.
In pleading guilty, Schiovone admitted that he caused the death of Susan Ambrosino, 26, of Franklin Square, who was 10 weeks pregnant and the mother of his then nine-year-old niece, on February 21, 2005, by shooting her once in the left side of her head with an illegal handgun as she sat in the front seat of her red Nissan Altima parked at 178th Street and Jamaica Avenue in Jamaica. Schiovone then placed her lifeless body in the car trunk and left the scene.
According to the district attorney, in the early morning of February 22, 2005, a passerby found a purse belonging to the victim on the sidewalk of 182nd Place and Jamaica Avenue and phoned the Nassau County Police Department - which had earlier initiated an investigation into the victim’s disappearance after her family had reported her missing when she failed to return home the night before. The victim’s car was discovered later in the evening on February 22, and Nassau County Police arrested the defendant on February 23 on charges of driving without a seatbelt and with a suspended registration and license. He was arrested the following day by NYPD detectives and charged with the murder of his former sister-in-law.