By Phil Corso
Two former Queens residents received lengthy prison sentences for their roles in the stabbing death of a 41-year-old father of two after an argument in Bellerose in February 2010, Queens district attorney Richard Brown said last Thursday.
According to the DA, Queens Supreme Court Justice Gregory L. Lasak sentenced Baljit Singh, 55, formerly of 88-32 239th St. in Bellerose, May 2 to 22 years in prison. He was convicted of first-degree manslaughter March 30 following a jury trial, the DA said.
Lasak also sentenced the second defendant of no relation, Ranjit Singh, 44, of Springfield Boulevard, May 2 to a determinate term of nine years in prison after he pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in June 2011, the DA said.
Police found James Lizon, 41, of Jersey City, N.J., with knife wounds to his chest after a party around 1:40 a.m. at a house at 88th Avenue and 239th Street on Feb. 28, 2010, police said. He was taken to Long Island Jewish Hospital, but was pronounced dead on arrival, authorities said.
According to trial testimony, an argument arose between the defendants and Lizon over the victim’s objection to the derogatory manner in which Baljit Singh was treating his girlfriend, who was also the sister of the victim’s roommate.
The DA said Ranjit Singh used a kitchen knife to stab the New Jersey man once in the chest before Baljit Singh then stabbed him once in the neck. Ranjit Singh then fled the scene and dumped the weapon on the ground yards away, the DA said.
“A father of two senselessly died when the defendants chose to escalate a verbal argument to a physical altercation, each of them stabbing the victim once and causing his death,” Brown said. “The convictions and sentences are a measure of justice for the victim’s friends and family.”
Reach reporter Phil Corso by e-mail at pcorso@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4573.
