An Astoria man was convicted of attempted murder, assault and other crimes for shoving his 64-year-old mother out of their third-floor apartment window in 2024, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Monday.
George Tsintzelis, 37, of Shore Boulevard, was found guilty in Queens Supreme Court on Friday, Dec. 5, after the jury deliberated for just nine hours before reaching a verdict.
According to the charges and trial testimony, on the night of Nov. 15, 2024, at approximately 9:10 p.m., the defendant and his mother, Paraskevi Tsintzelis, became engaged in an argument over money. During the verbal dispute, he beat his mother with a cane, displayed two knives he grabbed in the kitchen and threatened her with them. Tsintzelis held the knives against his mother’s body and forced her onto the window ledge and pushed her out the window, causing her to fall three stories to the ground.
Police from the 114th Precinct in Astoria responded to multiple 911 calls at around 9:15 p.m. after frantic neighbors at the Marine Terrace apartment complex saw the 64-year-old woman falling from the building. EMS rushed the victim to Elmhurst Hospital, where she was treated for injuries, including multiple broken bones, a laceration of her tongue, a laceration of the intestines and internal bleeding. The victim underwent multiple surgeries and had to be intubated.
Trial openings began on Nov. 20 and summations occurred on Thursday, Nov. 4. Tzintzelis was convicted the following day of attempted murder in the second degree, two counts of assault in the first degree, one count of assault in the second degree, aggravated criminal contempt and four counts of criminal possession of a weapon.
“Paraskevi Tsintzelis was seriously injured but fortunately survived the fall and then made the difficult decision to testify against her son at trial,” Katz said. “The defendant pulled a knife on his mother before pushing her out of a third-floor window. This was a completely senseless act of violence that has torn a family apart.”
Queens Supreme Court Justice Peter Vallone set a sentencing date of Jan. 21, 2026, at which time Tsintzelis faces up to 25 years in prison.
