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Bronx man sentenced to up to life in prison for murder in 2016 South Richmond Hill home invasion

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A Bronx man was sentenced to up to life in prison for murder and other crimes in a 2016 botched home invasion in South Richmond Hill, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.

Jose Pichardo, 27, of Creston Avenue, was convicted earlier this month of murder and two counts of burglary before Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Aloise who handed down an indeterminate sentence of 18 years to life in prison on the murder charge and 10 years in prison on each burglary count.

According to trial records, at around 2 a.m. on Nov. 30, 2016, Pichardo entered a home on 110th Street in South Richmond Hill with three others. Pichardo and his co-defendants had been told by a fifth co-defendant that the occupant of the home was a friend of her ex-boyfriend and that they could find Xanax pills, marijuana and cash inside.

Katz said the defendants found Eddie Ventura, 20, in a bedroom playing video games with two others. Pichardo and co-defendant Khalil Moses, who was armed with a knife, fought with Ventura and stabbed him numerous times in the back and thigh. Ventura died as a result of the stab wounds.

Defendant Moses pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 21 years in prison in Sept. 2020. Pichardo’s brother, John Pichardo, pleaded guilty to burglary and was sentenced in July 2020 to 15 years in prison.

“The victim, in this case, was in the wrong place at the wrong time, just playing video games at a friend’s house, when he was fatally attacked,” Katz said. “Following the court’s sentence, the defendant will spend a lengthy term incarcerated for his brutal act of violence.”

The cases against the fourth and fifth defendants are pending, according to the DA’s office.