By Bill Parry
A reputed Sureno 13 gang member was sentenced to more than 13 years in prison for fatally shooting a 38-year-old Elmhurst man in 2015, the Queens DA said.
Raul Zamora, 33, of Jackson Heights, pleaded guilty last month to shooting Jorge Manzanarez in broad daylight at the intersection of Whitney and Roosevelt avenues on the afternoon of May 5, 2015, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
Zamora and Isaac Martinez, 35, along with a third suspect who has avoided arrest, got into a verbal argument with Manzanarez. Zamora then pulled a gun and shot the victim once in the chest, according to the charges. Manzanarez was taken to Elmhurst Hospital Center where he died later that day.
Zamora pleaded guilty last month to first-degree manslaughter before Queens Supreme Court Judge Deborah Stevens Modica, who last Thursday imposed a sentence of 13.5 years in prison, to be followed by five years of post-release supervision.
“In pleading guilty, the defendant admitted that he intentionally took the life of another person and used a gun to settle a petty dispute,” Brown said. “His actions revealed a total disregard for human life and he must be punished for this senseless killing. The lengthy term of incarceration imposed by the Court today is more than warranted.”
Martinez pleaded guilty last year to second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision.
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparr
