QUEENS, NY – Kareem Flake, 31, was sentenced today to 22 years in prison for the 2020 killing of Destini Smothers, the mother of his two children. The sentencing was announced by Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
Flake pleaded guilty in July to first-degree manslaughter. Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Aloise also sentenced him to five years of post-release supervision.
Smothers, 26, was last seen alive on November 3, 2020, celebrating her birthday at a Woodside bowling alley. She was in a car with Flake and was reported missing a few days later. Her decomposing body was found four months later, on March 10, 2021, in the trunk of an abandoned Toyota Camry that belonged to Flake. The car was located at the intersection of 134th Avenue and 151st Place in Springfield Gardens.
The discovery was made by a tow truck operator who noticed a flat tire on the vehicle and opened the trunk to look for a spare. An autopsy by the New York City Medical Examiner determined that Smothers had died from a gunshot wound to the head.
Flake was arrested on April 9, 2022, in Osceola County, Florida, and was later extradited to New York for prosecution.
District Attorney Katz said, “The family of Destini Smothers agonized for months over her disappearance. This sentence will hopefully bring some peace to her loved ones and her two young children, who must now grow up without a mother.”
