A Bronx man will spend almost two decades behind bars for the savage beating he inflicted on a former girlfriend in Jamaica in 2020.
James Fitzgerald, 55, was sentenced to 19 years in prison Thursday after pleading guilty last month to attempted murder for the May 2020, attack on the sidewalk in front of a fish market, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
According to court records, just before 6 p.m. on May 16, 2020, Fitzgerald abused his estranged 35-year-old girlfriend in front of Haifa Smoked Fish on 150th Street in Jamaica, knocking her to the ground and relentlessly beating her with his fists.
At one point, Fitzgerald began to kick her several times while ignoring the pleas of on-lookers yelling at him to stop. He briefly walked away from his victim only to return a moment later with a wooden plank studded with nails. Fitzgerald proceeded to slam the blunt object into her face repeatedly.
Katz said police arrived on the scene just as Fitzgerald was walking away from “the nearly dead woman.” When officers ordered Fitzgerald to halt, he ran but was apprehended following a short foot chase.
EMS responded to the crime scene and rushed the victim to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in critical condition. She suffered permanent loss of vision in her right eye and her face was permanently disfigured due to a crushed orbital bone and severe facial fractures, according to court records.
Katz said police recovered the bloody wooden plank with several nails protruding from it at the scene of the attack as well as the victim’s broken teeth that were scattered on the sidewalk.
“This defendant brutally attacked his former girlfriend nearly to death,” Katz said. “It is a miracle that the victim survived, though she still faces years of physical and mental recovery due to the severe sustained injuries. Following the defendant’s guilty plea last month, he now has been sentenced to prison for his heinous actions. I can only hope that the victim finds some solace in knowing that the defendant has been held accountable.”
Fitzgerald, of Walton Avenue in the Bronx, pleaded guilty on June 2 to attempted murder in the second degree before Queens Supreme Court Justice Toni Cimino, who imposed Thursday’s sentence of 19 years in prison to be followed by five years post-release supervision. A full order of protection was also issued on behalf of the victim.
