NEW YORK, NY (PRESS RELEASE) – Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced that Kristof Williams, 27, has been sentenced to 16 years-to-life in prison after being convicted at trial of murder and other crimes for his role in the death of a 20-year-old man. The victim was killed during a home invasion in South Richmond Hill, Queens, in November 2016. The defendant is the fourth person sentenced in connection with this tragic incident.
District Attorney Katz said, “This defendant is the last of four men held responsible for breaking into a South Richmond Hill home six years ago in search of money and drugs. The defendant’s actions led to the senseless loss of a young man’s life. No amount of time can dull the grief of the victim’s family and friends but hopefully justice will offer them a measure of closure.”
Williams, of Grand Central Parkway in Forest Hills, Queens, was found guilty at trial to murder in the second degree and burglary in the first and second degree. Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Aloise, who presided at trial, yesterday sentenced the defendant to 16 years-to-life in prison.
At approximately 2 a.m. on November 30, 2016, according to the trial testimony, the defendant and three others broke into a house on 110th Street in South Richmond Hill in search of Xanax pills, marijuana and cash they believed were inside.
The DA said, once inside the house, the defendant and three other men cornered 20-year-old Eddie Ventura while he was playing video games with two other people in a bedroom. During a struggle to defend himself from the aggressors, Mr. Ventura was fatally stabbed numerous times in the back and leg.
Defendant Khalil Moses pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the first degree and was sentenced to 21 years in prison in September 2020. John Pichardo pleaded guilty to burglary in the first degree and was sentenced in July 2020 to 15 years in prison. Jose Pichardo was found guilty at trial of murder in the second degree and was sentenced to 18 years-to-life in prison in October 2021.
Deputy Bureau Chief Timothy J. Regan, of Felony Trial Bureau IV, prosecuted the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Karen Rankin, Bureau Chief, and Robert Ferino, Deputy Bureau Chief and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney Pishoy Yacoub of the Trial.