Say Kew Gdns. Man Fibbed Robbery Claim
Detectives didn’t buy a Kew Gardens man’s story about robbers shooting his girlfriend on Sunday morning, Feb. 9, and instead charged him with committing the crime, prosecutors stated.
Steven Diaz, 30, of 127th Street was booked by the 102nd Precinct Detective Squad for the attempted murder of his 22-year-old, live-in girlfriend, who remains in critical condition at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center.
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown noted the victim suffered severe brain damage.
“If her condition changes and she does not survive, the charges [against Diaz] will be upgraded,” Brown said in a statement Monday, Feb. 10.
Reportedly, the shooting took place between 4:30 and 6:30 a.m. Sunday inside a third-floor apartment at a home on 127th Street near Kew Gardens Road.
According to law enforcement sources, Diaz allegedly shot his girlfriend in the head with a 9mm handgun; the motive for the crime remain under investigation.
Shortly thereafter, police said, Diaz allegedly threw the handgun down a nearby sewer and brought his injured girlfriend to Jamaica Hospital for treatment.
Members of the 102nd Precinct and the 102nd Precinct Detective Squad responded to the hospital after receiving a report of the shooting.
During questioning, authorities said, Diaz allegedly claimed three masked robbers entered the residence and shot his girlfriend during the purported robbery.
Upon further investigation, however, detectives gathered information suggesting Diaz was behind the shooting. He was formally charged Monday with second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence.
Prosecutors noted Diaz was additionally booked for criminal possession of marijuana after officers found 10 pounds of weed inside the apartment during a search.
If convicted, Diaz faces up to 25 years to life behind bars.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Kristin J. Papadopoulos of the DA’s Homicide Investigations Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Peter T. Reese, bureau chief, and Peter J. McCormack III, deputy bureau chief.
