GRAND JURY CHARGES 45 YEAR OLD MAN WITH FIRST DEGREE MURDER, ATTEMPTED RAPE AND OTHER OFFENSES IN THE STABBING DEATH OF A 22 YEAR OLD WOMAN ON CHRISTMAS MORNING

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that Sheldon Becker, 45, has been indicted on murder and other charges in the fatal stabbing of Damaris Lopez, 22, and the attempted murder of her father, Hector Lopez, 62, last month on Christmas Day.

A grand jury indicted Becker on one count of Murder in the 1st degree, one count of Murder in the 2nd degree, one count of Manslaughter in the 1st degree, one count of Attempted Murder in the 2nd degree, two counts of Assault in the 2nd degree, two counts of Attempted Rape in the 1st degree, two counts of Attempted Sexual Abuse in the 1st degree, one count each of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the 3rd and 4th degrees.

Becker, a long time friend of the murdered woman’s father, is facing a maximum sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole if convicted on the most serious offense, Murder in the 1st degree. He is scheduled to be arraigned on the indictment on Thursday, February 9, 2006 in State Supreme Court Part A.

The crimes occurred on December 25, 2005 at the victims’ home near the Cross Bronx Expressway in the Throggs Neck section of the Bronx. Both victims were stabbed multiple times with a sharp metal instrument.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Adam Oustatcher of the Child Abuse / Sex Offense Bureau.