A Jamaica man will spend the next 25 years behind bars for fatally stabbing a man in a jealous rage three years ago, prosecutors announced on Wednesday.
Williams Hidalgo, 23, was convicted of second-degree murder and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon this past March. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
According to trial testimony, Hidalgo was outside of a bar on Jamaica Avenue on April 19, 2015, when he saw his wife out with another man. Enraged, Hidalgo wanted to fight the man who was out with his wife, however the man left the bar without incident.
Later, at 4:25 a.m., Hidalgo saw Otto Ajpacaja, 39, trying to hail a taxi. Hidalgo then pounced on Ajpacaja and stabbed him in the upper thigh.
As Ajpacaja tried to escape and ran into the street, Hidalgo ran him down and stabbed him again in the chest and back. Ajpacaja’s femoral artery in his leg was severed during the attack and he later died as a result of the injuries.
“The victim in this case was the innocent target of the defendant’s misplaced rage,” said District Attorney Richard A. Brown. “In an unprovoked attack, the defendant fatally stabbed the victim in the leg, back and chest. The blade severed an artery and the man died. As punishment for this craven act, the defendant has now been sentenced and will be incarcerated for a very long time.”
