BRONX MAN IS FOUND GUILTY OF MURDER
Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that a 25 year-old Bronx man has been convicted of murder in the stabbing death of a 24 year-old man in July 2002.
A jury found Steven Sanchez, of 1602 Taylor Avenue, guilty of Murder in the 2nd degree, "in a manner evincing a depraved indifference to human life", in the death of Jason Maldonado.
Sanchez faces a maximum term of 25 years to life imprisonment when he appears before State Supreme Court Justice Martin Marcus for sentencing on Thursday, April 1, 2004, in Part T13.
The fatal stabbing occurred in the early morning hours of July 13, 2002, following a series of heated telephone conversations between the defendant and Jessica Herrera, who was a passenger in the victim’s car.
The victim and his friend, Gregory Bright, were leaving the Bedford Park section of the Bronx, when they encountered Herrera and an unidentified female companion. The ladies asked for a ride and Bright and Maldonado agreed to take them to their destination.
While in the car, Herrera received several telephone calls from her live-in boyfriend, Sanchez, demanding to know where she was, and whom she was with. During a few of the calls, Herrera left the telephone line open while she flirted with Maldonado. Overhearing his girlfriend’s conversation, Sanchez, who was waiting for Herrera to arrive home, became enraged, grabbed a large kitchen knife and went downstairs to wait for her at the corner of Taylor Avenue.
Upon arriving at the intersection of Taylor and Van Nest Avenues, Herrera stepped out of the car and Sanchez immediately ran up to her and slapped her in the face, then kicked the car door shut. Witnessing the assault, Maldonado got out of the car and was confronted by Sanchez and stabbed once in the stomach with a 12" butcher knife.
Sanchez fled and was apprehended later that morning. Bright drove Maldonado to the hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries.
Assistant District Attorney Georgia Barker and Senior Assistant District Attorney John M. Morabito are prosecuting this case.
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