Photo by Megan Green
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.2 COM | NOV. 27-DEC. 3, 2020
BY JACOB KAYE
A man who has spent
the past 26 years in prison
for a murder he maintains
he didn’t commit, may have
his conviction vacated after
Queens District Attorney Melinda
Katz filed a motion to do
so in court this week.
Ernest Kendrick, who was
found guilty of murdering a
70-year-old woman in Long
Island City in 1994, had his
case reviewed by Katz’s Conviction
Integrity Unit, which
found that his conviction was
based on flimsy eyewitness
testimony and contradictory
DNA analysis.
The case revolves around
the murder of Josephine Sanchez,
who was stabbed twice
in the back by someone stealing
her purse outside of the
Ravenswood Houses on Nov.
30, 1994.
Hearing Sanchez’s
screams, a 10-year-old witness
poked their head out of their
window and caught a glimpse
of the attacker, later providing
police with a description,
according to court records.
Kendrick was arrested a
short time after the murder
by police who believed he
loosely fit the description of
the suspect.
During a police lineup,
which Kendrick was included
in, the 10-year-old initially identified
another person as the
murderer, but later changed his
answer, identifying Kendrick
as Sanchez’s attacker.
Following the lineup,
Kendrick was interrogated
by police several times and
maintained his innocence
throughout. However, police
found several of his statements
suspicious, according
to Katz.
During their investigation,
police found a second
witness who claimed they saw
Kendrick running away with
Sanchez’s black purse.
Recent DNA testing on
the purse revealed that Kendrick’s
DNA was not on or in
the black purse.
Though Kendrick was
convicted largely based on
the two witnesses testimony,
the investigation by Katz’s
Conviction Integrity Unit
uncovered four new witness
testimony that contracted the
first two.
One of the new witnesses,
a neighbor who lived directly
below the 10-year-old’s apartment,
said they saw the attacker
run in the opposite direction
from where Kendrick
was spotted by the second witness,
Katz said.
Two other witnesses who
provided aid to Sanchez after
her attack also came forward,
contradicting the second witness
who claimed they saw
Sanchez alone.
Finally, another new witness,
who the second witness
claimed to be visiting at the
time of the murder, told Katz
that she was not home when
the witness claimed they were
together.
Katz has recommended
Kendrick’s indictment be
dismissed and his conviction
vacated.
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
In an effort to alleviate
some of the stress of the
months-long cooking gas outage
at an entire building in
Astoria Houses, Queens Together,
community members
and local elected officials
joined forces to distribute
items to tenants of Astoria
Houses on Sunday, Nov. 15.
Queens Together secured
crockpots, dry goods and
personal protective equipment
for the tenants at 1-04
Astoria Blvd. The four dozen
families have been without
cooking gas since Sept. 23.
NYCHA gave each household
one hot plate, and have said
previously that a full restoration
will take more time,
even as local elected officials
were pushing for the agency
to restore it before the holidays.
Community members
have also taken it upon
themselves to help by donating
both hot food and groceries,
throughout the time
of the outage. While Queens
Together understands the
donated items aren’t a substitute
for a working stove
and oven, they hope it offers
some level of help, as Thanksgiving
is right around the
corner.
“We hosted this event because
the Queens Together
restaurants and chefs, know
the holidays are a time for
cooking and celebrating with
family,” said Queens Together
Co-Founder Jonathan
Forgash. “Cooking is connecting
and there’s no better
way of connecting than a
home cooked meal. We were
honored to meet some of the
families face to face. This is
how you build community.”
Astoria Councilman Costa
Constantinides attended the
event, and has been pushing
NYCHA to find a long-term
and sustainable solution.
“Where NYCHA has let
residents down, the Astoria
Houses community has
stepped up,” said Constantinides.
“A gas outage should
not take away our neighbors’
ability to celebrate Thanksgiving,
a holiday rooted in
family recipes and celebration.
I am thankful Queens
Together has demonstrated
leadership and secured these
crockpots, dry goods, and
other supplies in this time of
need.”
Councilman Donovan
Richards, the Queens borough
president-elect, attended
the event and helped
sponsor it.
“As Thanksgiving approaches,
Astoria Houses
residents are still suffering
from a gas outage,” said
Richards. “I joined my colleague
Councilman Costa
Constantinides and other
community leaders to give
away Crock-Pots and warm
meals to ensure no one gets
left behind this Thanksgiving.”
Congresswoman Carolyn
Maloney also attended the
event. She recently applauded
NYCHA for launching
their new pilot program at
three housing developments
in Queens, in order to address
repairs by decentralizing
the work process for
repairs.
“I’m grateful to Jonathan
Forgash and Queens Together
for taking initiative under
these extremely difficult
circumstances to hand out
crockpots to residents,” said
Maloney. “With Thanksgiving
around the corner, NYCHA
has to take urgent steps
to address the gas outage affecting
Astoria Houses residents.
A single-burner hotplate
is simply not a solution,
and I hope NYCHA will hear
our concerns will offer more
dynamic solutions – including
looking at rent reductions
for affected residents
– in the days to come.”
DA Katz with a team of investigators and staff from the
office’s Conviction Integrity Unit visiting the crime scene where
a 70-year-old woman was stabbed to death in 1994.
Courtesy of Queens DA’s offi ce
DA recommends conviction
of 1994 Long Island City
murder be overturned
Astoria Houses tenants receive
donations ahead of the holidays
TIMESLEDGER is published weekly by Queens CNG LLC, 38-15 Bell Boulevard, Bayside, NY.11361, (718) 229-0300. The entire contents of this publication are copyright 2020. All rights reserved. The newspaper will not be
liable for errors appearing in any advertising beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error. Periodicals postage paid at Flushing, N.Y. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the TimesLedger C/O News Queens
CNG LLC. 38-15 Bell Boulevard, Bayside, N.Y. 11361.