Brooklyn, NY – The owner of a Nassau County construction company has been sentenced to six months in jail and five years’ probation after being convicted on charges including criminally negligent homicide. This follows the collapse of a wall he built that resulted in the death of five-year-old Alysson Pinto-Chaumana.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced the sentence alongside New York City Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber and New York City Department of Buildings Commissioner James Oddo. They highlighted the defendant’s failure to follow crucial safety requirements specified by the New York City Building Code. The owner, Nadeem Anwar of Valley Stream, and his company, City Wide Construction and Renovations, Inc., were also convicted on charges of offering a false instrument for filing and falsifying business records.
The incident occurred on August 29, 2019, at approximately 8:30 p.m. in Bushwick, Brooklyn, when Alysson was struck by falling granite pillars while waiting with her mother and friends. Investigations revealed multiple violations of the building code, including the absence of required steel reinforcements and engineer-grade adhesive, making the wall highly unstable.