Thursday, May 1, 2008

He Pleads Guilty In Fatal Mugging
Robbed Victim Of $5, Left Her For Dead

A Corona man has pleaded guilty and will be sentenced to 22 years in prison for his role in the death of a local woman who was left to die on a sidewalk after being beaten and robbed of $5 cash, it was announced.

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said that 25-year-old Warlin Ramirez, whose last known address was on 57th Avenue, pleaded guilty last Thursday, Apr. 24 before Queens Supreme Court Justice Robert Hanophy to first-degree manslaughter.

It was noted that the defendant will be sentenced on May 20 to 22 years behind bars.

According to the criminal charges, Ramirez was walking the streets of Corona on the evening of Dec. 12, 2002 when he and two unapprehended accomplices decided to rob Say Mee Ngu, a 57-year-old immigrant from Malaysia who lived with her son and his family on 98th Street in Corona.

Ngu, who spoke no English and worked at a Flushing hair salon, had just stepped off the Q58 bus after doing grocery shopping near her place of work when the individuals surrounded her at the corner of 98th Street and 55th Avenue and knocked her to the ground.

Ramirez then then began stomping on her face and chest while she screamed.

The other robbers reportedly fled on foot and met up with the defendant a short while later at a local laundromat, where Ramirez stated that the victim only had five dollars on her. He then stood in a puddle of water and attempted to wash away the blood on his sneakers.

Ngu was found bleeding on the sidewalk, barely alive, with her groceries strewn about her. There were several bloody footprints leading away from the victim’s body. She was pronounced dead at Elmhurst Hospital Center a short while later. The cause of death was severe blunt trauma to the head.

“NYPD detectives doggedly pursued the case until they received a crucial tip which eventually led to DNA belonging to the victim being positively compared to blood found on a pair of the defendant’s sneakers,” District Attorney Brown said. “He pleaded guilty just as his trial was about to get underway.”

The investigation was conducted by NYPD Detectives Billy Milan and Stephen Aquaviva and Sergeants William Wanamker and James Haverline, all formerly assigned to the 110th Precinct.

Assistant District Attorney John Kosinski, of the District Attorney’s Homicide Trials Bureau prosecuted the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Brad A. Leventhal, bureau chief, Jack Warsawsky, deputy bureau chief, and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Charles A. Testagrossa and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Daniel A. Saunders.