A Richmond Hill man was sentenced on July 6 to 22 years to life in prison for the murder and attempted rape of a 92-year-old woman he brutally attacked and left to die near her Richmond Hill home on a frigid night in 2020, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
Reeaz Khan, 24, of 134th Street, pleaded guilty before Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder last month to murder in the second degree and attempted rape in the first degree.
According to the charges, Khan was seen on video surveillance footage approaching Maria Fuertes from behind as she walked on 127th Avenue at approximately 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 6, 2020. Video shows them both dropping to the ground. Approximately five minutes later, Khan is seen on the video footage with his pants undone and running off.
At approximately 2:14 a.m., a passerby found Fuertes and called 911. The victim, whose dress was lifted to her chest, was barely conscious and incoherent when she was taken to a local hospital, where she later died. Doctors found that Fuertes had sustained two fractures to her spine, two rib fractures, bruising to her neck and chest and other injuries, according to the charges. An autopsy determined Fuertes, who was known affectionately as the “Cat Woman” of Richmond Hill for taking care of the neighborhood’s strays, died from blunt force trauma and hypothermia.
“We have succeeded in getting a dangerous predator off our streets for his horrific assault of a defenseless elderly woman,” Katz said. “I hope that the long prison term provides at least some measure of solace to the victim’s loved ones.”
Justice Holder sentenced Khan to 22 year to life in prison on the murder charge and eight years in prison on the attempted rape charge. The sentences are to run concurrently.
Khan is a Guyanese national who was in the country illegally and facing deportation by ICE at the time of the murder, according to the DA’s office. The NYPD arrested Khan in November 2020 on charges of assault and criminal possession of a weapon after he allegedly cut his father in the chest and arm with a mug during an argument. ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations deportation officers lodged a detainer with the NYPD, but under city policy, ICE detainers are honored only when the person has been convicted of a “violent or serious” crime within five years of the arrest.
The case forced then-Mayor Bill de Blasio to defend his administration’s “sanctuary city” policy after ICE officials said Khan should have been deported back in November 2020, months before the “Cat Woman” of Richmond Hill was murdered in the brutal attack.
