Nearly five years after he killed a Bangladeshi immigrant at a neighborhood bar, a Jamaica man is now spending the next 23 years to life behind bars for the crime, prosecutors announced.
David Louime, 32, of 88th Avenue was sentenced on July 18 after being convicted in May of second-degree murder for the September 2012 killing of Isteak Quadir, 51, according to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown.
Law enforcement sources said Quadir was with friends at the now-defunct Hillside Inn, located at 168-02 Hillside Ave. in Jamaica, at 12:40 a.m. on Sept. 13, 2012 when Louime attacked him. According to trial testimony, Louime punched Quadir repeatedly in the face, causing the victim to fall to the floor, hit his head and lose consciousness.
Prosecutors said Louime continued his attack, viciously kicking and stomping Quadir before fleeing from the scene. Paramedics rushed the victim to a local hospital, where he was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury.
Though he underwent surgery to relieve swelling on the brain and being placed in a drug-induced coma, Brown said, Quadir suffered permanent brain damage that left him unable to speak; he was admitted to a nursing home, where he was kept alive for nearly 1 1/2 years with the assistance of a feeding tube and a ventilator. Ultimately, Quadir died of his injuries in May 2014.
Brown said Louime was apprehended in March of 2014 in a routine traffic stop; he was charged with the deadly assault upon further investigation.
“This was a senseless act of brutality,” Brown said. “[Quadir] suffered severe brain damage as a result of the beating inflicted by [Louime] and was left in a semi-vegetative state for approximately 15 months until his death. The defendant has now been sentenced and could possibly serve the rest of his life incarcerated.”
