Quick murder verdict Alleged Corona creep
targeted Flushing girl Jurors take minutes to convict stepmom of murder
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
The Brooklyn man
accused of attempting to lure
a 12-year-old girl into his
car in Corona earlier this
week has been linked to a
similar incident in Flushing
last month, prosecutors
announced on May 10.
Eddie Rodriguez, 42, of
Crown Heights was picked up
on May 9 three days after he
allegedly tried to pick up the
young girl from his car on
Van Cleef Street in Corona,
then exposed his penis to her
and began masturbating.
Following his arrest,
detectives learned that
Rodriguez allegedly did the
same thing to a 14-year-old
girl walking
in the area of
156th Street
and 43rd
Avenue on
April 4. Police
now believe
there may be
more victims,
and are asking
anyone who
may have been
approached by
Rodriguez to
come forward.
“This week
there was a
Queens man
arrested for
masturbating
in front of young girls,”
Assistant Chief Martin
Morales of NYPD Patrol
Borough Queens North
tweeted. “There may be more
victims…if you or someone
you know were a victim,
please call our rape hotline at
212-267-RAPE.”
Eddie Rodriguez
Rodriguez currently faces
charges on two criminal
complaints of endangering
the welfare of a child, public
lewdness, fourth-degree
grand larceny and three
counts of second-degree
harassment. He faces up to a
year behind bars if convicted,
according to acting Queens
District Attorney John Ryan.
“Every single person —
especially children — should
feel safe and secure walking
alone in our neighborhoods,”
Ryan said in a May 10
statement. “But the defendant
in this case is alleged to have
pursued the girls in his
car, asked for directions all
while fondling his exposed
genitals. This kind of lewd
and abhorrent behavior is
unacceptable and caused the
youngsters real fear. The
defendant is in custody and
faces jail time for his alleged
deviant actions.”
Regarding the April 4
incident in Flushing, law
enforcement sources said,
Rodriguez drove up to the
location and asked the 14-
year-old victim to use her
phone. When she attempted
to help him, he allegedly
grabbed the phone out of
her hand.
The victim tried to get
the phone back and saw
Rodriguez allegedly stroking
his exposed genitalia. He
refused to give her phone
back, stating, “when I
f i n i shed.”
Authorities
said he
c ont i nue d
the lewd
act, then
returned the
phone to the
teenager.
T h e
C o r o n a
i n c i d e n t
o c c u r r e d
at around
6:30 p.m. on
May 6, when
Rodriguez —
while behind
the wheel
of a gray
Nissan — approached the
12-year-old girl and asked
her for directions to a
nearby hospital. During a
conversation, he allegedly
asked to use the girl’s
cellphone, claiming that his
own phone did not work.
After the girl handed over
her phone, law enforcement
sources said, Rodriguez
allegedly ordered the girl
to get into his car, but she
refused to do so. When she
went to take her phone back,
the suspect allegedly began
manipulating his exposed
penis in front of her.
The 110th Precinct learned
of the incident and obtained
an image of the vehicle from
a nearby security camera.
Rodriguez was arrested
on May 9 after police
disseminated the picture
through media outlets and
on Twitter.
Members of the
NYPD Queens Special
Victims Squad conducted
the investigation.
The Medical Examiner’s office team removing the body of Ashdeep Kaur (below) from her 112th Street
home on Aug. 19, 2016. Photo by Robert Stridiron/below via Facebook
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
Jurors wasted no time
rendering a guilty verdict
against a Richmond Hill
woman who strangled her
9-year-old stepdaughter in a
bathtub back in August 2016,
prosecutors announced.
Shamdai Arjun, 55, of
112th Street could spend the
rest of her life behind bars
after being convicted on May
10 of second-degree murder.
According to acting Queens
District Attorney John
Ryan, the jury needed less
than an hour to make their
decision following the twoweek
long trial.
“This is a horrifying case
of a defenseless 9-year-old
child, who was to be cared for
by her stepmother, but was
instead strangled to death
by her,” Ryan said in a May
13 statement. “Her actions
are truly incomprehensible
and deserve the maximum
punishment allowed under
the law.”
Law enforcement sources
said Arjun killed Ashdeep
Kaur on the afternoon of
Aug. 19, 2016, inside of a
home on 112th Street near
95th Avenue.
Prosecutors said that
an eyewitness spotted
Ashdeep Kaur
Arjun leaving the home
with her husband and two
grandchildren at 5:30 p.m.
on that day and asked about
Ashdeep’s whereabouts.
Arjun told the witness that
the child was in the bathroom
and waiting for her father to
pick her up.
The eyewitness testified at
trial to seeing the bathroom
light on inside the home since
at least 3 p.m. The witness
then called the victim’s father
and was instructed to break
through the bathroom door.
Once inside, the witness
found Kaur unconscious
inside the bathtub. Officers
from the 102nd Precinct and
EMS units rushed to the scene;
Kaur was pronounced dead
a short time later. Through
an autopsy, the Medical
Examiner’s office determined
that the child died of manual
strangulation.
Detectives located Arjun
a short time later at a nearby
home and took her into custody
following questioning.
Arjun will be sentenced
on June 3, and faces up to
25 years to life in prison,
Ryan noted.
Reach reporter Robert
Pozarycki by email at
rpozarycki@qns.com or
by phone at (718) 224-5863
ext. 204.
TIMESLEDGER,4 MAY 17-23, 2019 QNS.COM
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