Knifed Wdhvn. Man At J Train Stop
An Elmhurst man was sentenced last Wednesday, Feb. 6, to serve at least the next two decades behind bars for murdering a 27-year-old man at an elevated train station in Woodhaven back in July 2010, law enforcement sources said.
Benjamin Moreira, 21, of Elbertson Street was ordered by Queens Supreme Court Justice Gregory L. Lasak to serve a term of 24 years to life in prison after being found guilty in November 2012 of fatally stabbing Dario Paiva of 85th Street in Woodhaven on the night of July 30, 2010.
Paiva was slain by Moreira in a dispute at the 85th Street-Forest Parkway J/Z station as the victim attempted to help his younger brother, who had been attacked earlier that evening by a group of unidentified assailants.
“The sentence imposed today is more than warranted and punishes [Moreira] for his senseless and vicious act of violence that robbed a young man of his life and his family of his companionship,” Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said in a statement released following last Wednesday’s sentencing hearing.
As previously reported, the deadly attack took place at around 11:25 p.m. on July 30, 2010 at the train station located above the intersection of Forest Parkway and Jamaica
Avenue.
Law enforcement sources said Paiva came to the location after receiving a call from his brother, who claimed that a group of individuals attacked him and then ran up to the train station.
Paiva entered the 85th Street-Forest Parkway station and searched the platform for his brother’s alleged attackers, authorities said. In doing so, he reportedly came across Moreira, and a verbal dispute quickly ensued.
Seconds later, police said, Moreira pulled out a knife, stabbed Paiva in the chest and fled from the location.
Members of the 102nd Precinct and EMS units rushed to the location. Paramedics transported Paiva to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he died a short time later.
Through an investigation conducted by the 102nd Precinct Detective Squad, Moreira was tracked down on Aug. 3, 2010 and charged with the killing. He was convicted by a jury on Nov. 30, 2012 on charges of second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, tampering with physical evidence and criminal possession of a weapon.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Peter V. Lomp of the D.A.’s Homicide Trials Bureau, which is supervised by Assistant District Attorneys Brad A. Leventhal, bureau chief, and Jack Warsawsky, deputy bureau chief.
