R.H. Suspect Took Lumber To Sleeping Victim
A Richmond Hill man admitted last week to fatally beating a homeless man with a wooden plank following an argument in August 2011, prosecutors announced.
Nermal Singh, 52, of Richmond Hill pled guilty to first-degree manslaughter for killing Gaswander “Giani” Singh (no relation), age unknown, on the night of Aug. 12, 2011.
Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder, who accepted the plea, ordered Nermal Singh to return to court on Oct. 2 for sentencing. According to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, the defendant faces 11 years in prison, plus five years’ probation.
Reportedly, the deadly assault occurred sometime after 9 p.m. on Aug. 12, 2011 in the vicinity of 121st Street and Jamaica Avenue.
Earlier that day, law enforcement sources said, Nermal Singh and Giani Singh got into an argument and a physical dispute. Reportedly, the victim remarked that he wanted to have sexual relations with the defendant’s sister, who is mentally challenged.
Police officers passing through the area managed to break up the altercation, authorities noted. However, Nermal Singh-still steamed over the incident-approached Giani Singh as he slept on a sleeping bag.
According to prosecutors, Nermal Singh awakened the man, then smashed his head and face with a 3′-long wooden board. The defendant then fled in an unknown direction.
Officers from the 102nd Precinct arrived at the location at 8 a.m. the next morning and found Giani Singh unconscious; paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.
Reportedly, an autopsy concluded the victim died of a severe hematoma and multiple skull fractures.
The 102nd Precinct Detective Squad conducted the investigation.
Senior Assistant District Attorney Jared Rosenblatt of the DA’s Homicide Trials Bureau prosecuted the case under the direction of Assistant District Attorneys Brad A. Leventhal, bureau chief, and Jack Warsawsky, deputy bureau chief.
