Faces 25 Years For Manslaughter
A 32-year-old Astoria man has pled guilty to one count of first-degree manslaughter for bludgeoning his wife to death with a baseball bat in their Astoria apartment in January.
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown identified the defendant as Jordan L. Hawes, 32, of 30th Street in Astoria, who worked as a chef in Man- hattan. He pled guilty last Wednesday, Feb. 29, to first-degree manslaughter before Queens Acting Supreme Court Justice Dorothy Chin-Brandt, who agreed to sentence him to a determinate term of 25 years in prison at a hearing on Mar. 16.
“This is a sad and tragic case in which a young woman’s life was cut short for no reason by the man who she should have been able to trust more than anyone-her husband,” Brown said in a statement last Wednesday. “Today’s guilty plea will spare the victim’s family the anguish of having to sit through a trial. It also is a guarantee that the defendant will serve a lengthy term in prison.”
In pleading guilty, Hawes admitted that on the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 30, he struck his wife, Tara Hawes, 33, in the head repeatedly with a baseball bat while she was asleep in bed.
According to the criminal charges, Tara Hawes’ body was discovered in her bed on Feb. 2 at approximately 10:30 p.m, with extreme blunt force trauma to her head and body. Two knives with what appeared to be blood on them, a baseball bat covered with what appeared to be blood, skin and hair, and the victim’s cell phone were recovered from the apartment.
The following day, a court-authorized search warrant was executed at the Hawes’ residence and a note with what appeared to be blood stains on it was discovered which stated in the first paragraph, “Where to begin. My life has been great most of the time. I was raised perfectly by my mom and dad, and I have learned so much from child … “
The note cut off and was missing a middle section before continuing and stating, in part, “I don’t know what … happened last night, but my life is destroyed. I killed my best friend.”
Tara Hawes’ Jeep Liberty was observed by Connecticut State Police at approximately 9 p.m., on Feb. 4, inside of a McDonald’s parking lot located in Bridgeport, on the Interstate 95 service area between Exits 20 and 21.
Jordan Hawes, who had taken the vehicle, surrendered himself to the police in the parking lot and stated, “I did something wrong. I surrender myself.”
Shortly thereafter, he suffered an apparent seizure and was taken to a local hospital. After he recovered, he waived extradition and was returned to Queens.
Senior Assistant District Attorney Robert S. Ciesla and Assistant District Attorney Marilyn A. Filingeri of the District Attorney’s Homicide Investigations Bureau prosecuted the case, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Peter T. Reese, bureau chief, Peter J. McCormack III, deputy bureau chief, and Richard B. Schaeffer, senior trial attorney, and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Charles A. Testagrossa and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Daniel A. Saunders.
