A Woodhaven man will spend the next 18 years behind bars for killing a Richmond Hill man while robbing him back in July 2014, prosecutors announced on Friday.
Nestor Rodriguez, 25, of 90th Street pleaded guilty in January 2019 to first-degree manslaughter in the case. At his sentencing on Feb. 8, Queens Supreme Court Justice Barry Schwartz ordered Rodriguez to serve 18 years in prison, followed by five years’ post-release supervision.
According to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, Rodriguez and a co-defendant violently assaulted and robbed Nazmul Islam, 55, at the corner of 76th Street and Atlantic Avenue in Woodhaven at 4:30 a.m. on July 9, 2014.
Law enforcement sources said that Rodriguez and the co-defendant allegedly punched and choked Islam until he was left incapacitated on the ground. They then allegedly removed money from his pocket and fled the scene.
The TimesLedger reported that the attack seemed to stem from a dispute between Islam and the two men over car keys at a nearby club.
Officers from the 102nd Precinct and EMS units responded to the incident. Islam was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Both Rodriguez and the co-defendant — Carlos Genno, 26 — were picked up by police on July 13, 2014, on jaywalking and drug possession charges and were later linked to Islam’s death, the New York Daily News reported. Genno’s case is currently pending, the Queens District Attorney’s office noted.
