By Patrick Donachie
A suspect was arrested and charged this weekend with the Aug. 31 stabbing murder of a 60-year-old Jamaica Hills Bangladeshi Muslim woman, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
Yonatan Galvez Marin, 22, was charged with two counts of second-degree murder, one count of first-degree attempted robbery and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, Brown said. According to the DA, Marin approached Nazma Khanam, at 9:15 p.m. on Aug. 31, while she was walking steps ahead of her husband, MD Shamul Alam Khan, 67. Brown said Marin approached Khanam and demanded money. She refused and Marin stabbed her in the torso, according to the DA. She was later pronounced dead at Jamaica Hospital.
“Sadly, the Bangladeshi community once again finds itself having to deal with the senseless murder of one of its own,” Brown said in a statement. “The individual who is alleged to have attacked this defenseless wife and mother as she walked down the street has now been apprehended and will be vigorously prosecuted for this unprovoked and heinous attack.”
Members of the Bangladeshi Muslim community called for the authorities to consider the possibility that the murder was a hate crime. The attack came a month after a man fatally shot the Bangladeshi imam of an Ozone Park mosque, along with his associate. Khanam’s life was celebrated at a funeral and press conference at Jamaica Muslim Center on Friday, as well as at a Sunday gathering at the site of the murder.
If convicted, Marin faces up to 25 years to life in prison.
Reach reporter Patrick Donachie by e-mail at pdona
