QUEENS, N.Y. — A Manhattan man was sentenced Monday to 35 years in prison for fatally stabbing two men in separate incidents in Queens in December 2021, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced.
Raymond Kenner, 25, of West 31st Street, pleaded guilty last month to two counts of first-degree manslaughter for the killings of Andrew Cunje and Benjamin Vazquez. His co-defendant, Alexander Stephens, 34, of 109th Road in St. Albans, was sentenced to seven years in prison for robbery.
“Raymond Kenner stabbed two young men in cold blood and callously left them to die in late December 2021,” said District Attorney Katz. “These completely unprovoked attacks will impact the families of Andrew Cunje and Benjamin Vazquez for years to come.”
On December 21, 2021, around 9 p.m., Kenner followed 25-year-old Cunje from Francis Lewis Boulevard to Carpenter Avenue in Hollis. He then stabbed him multiple times and stole his backpack with Stephens. Cunje was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Two days later, around 11 p.m. on December 23, Kenner chased 29-year-old Benjamin Vazquez on 89th Avenue near Rufus King Park in Jamaica. He threw Vazquez to the ground, stabbed him about eight times, stomped on him, and then attacked again after the victim tried to flee. Vazquez also died from his injuries at a nearby hospital.
Kenner’s 35-year prison sentence will be followed by five years of post-release supervision. Stephens, who pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery, will also serve five years of post-release supervision following his sentence.