A South Jamaica teenager set out to rob a prostitute last month and now faces a possible life sentence for the alleged murder of a Long Island man, according to the Queens district attorney’s office.
Edson Giron Figueroa, 19, of 108th Avenue, was arraigned Tuesday, Aug. 10, before Queens Criminal Court Judge Jeffrey Gershuny on a six-count complaint charging him with murder in the second degree in the shooting death of a 25-year-old Elmont man. The defendant also faces robbery and weapons possession charges, and was held without bail, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
According to the charges, at approximately 2:40 a.m. on Saturday, July 24, Giron Figueroa walked to a commercial building on 150th Street near 105th Avenue in Jamaica looking to rob a prostitute at gunpoint.
Giron Figueroa sat on some concrete blocks and observed a man dressed in women’s clothing with a beard and a wig, according to the criminal complaint. Giron Figueroa approached the victim Albert Serrato from behind and pointed the gun at him and said “Give me the money.”
When Serrato turned around, the defendant allegedly fired the gun several times. Giron Figueroa only remembered pulling the trigger once, but it went off multiple times; he didn’t take anything because it happened so fast and after he saw the man dressed in women’s clothes fall to the ground he ran away, according to the complaint.
Giron Figueroa fled the crime scene and later asked a friend to dispose of the gun. EMS responded to and transported Serrato to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
Giron Figueroa was apprehended by the NYPD on Aug. 10.
“What allegedly began as a robbery attempt quickly accelerated to a craven act of gun violence, with the most tragic of results, a young life lost,” Katz said. “We will now seek to bring this defendant to justice for his alleged crime.”
Judge Gershuny set Giron Figueroa’s return date for Aug. 13. If convicted he faces up to 25 years-to-life in prison.
