8 The Queens Courier • december 1, 2016 for breaking news visit www.qns.com Manhattan man convicted 25 years after executing driver on Grand Central Parkway in Forest Hills Photo via Google Maps The westbound lanes of the Grand Central Parkway near 68th Avenue in Forest Hills, where Frank Sestak was fatally shot in February 1990. Sunnyside father charged with killing his crying 5-month-old daughter By Angela Matua [email protected] @AngelaMatua A Sunnyside man was charged with killing his 5-month-old daughter while she was crying. According to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, Jorge Baque, 36, was charged with seconddegree murder, first-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child. His daughter, Alaia Baque, died on July 30, 2016. Jorge Baque went to check on Alaia at their home on Greenpoint Avenue at about 2 a.m. on July 30, the criminal complaint said. According to Baque, he held his daughter until she stopped crying and then placed her facedown in her crib. At about 6:30 a.m., he went to go check on her and found that her lips were blue and she was unresponsive. Brown called this a “tragic and horrible case.” “The victim is a baby whose short life was filled with suffering and pain allegedly at the hands of the very person who should have been protecting her and keeping her safe,” he said. “The defendant in this case is the baby’s father. Instead of comforting and soothing her as she cried, the defendant is accused of causing severe head injury, bleeding on her brain and severe hemorrhaging in the back of her eyes. This didn’t have to happen and shouldn’t have happened.” Baque is awaiting arraignment in Queens Criminal Court and he faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted. 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QC QC QC QC Expires 12/29/16 QC By Robert Pozarycki [email protected] @robbpoz Justice was finally served, on Nov. 23, to a convicted bank robber from Manhattan for murdering a driver on the Grand Central Parkway in Forest Hills more than 25 years ago. Kevin Smith, 57, was convicted of second-degree murder for his role in the Feb. 8, 1990, shooting death of Frank Sestak, 45, who had been driving Smith and an accomplice, David Hammerstone of Pennsylvania. Both Smith and Hammerstone robbed a bank in Manhattan a month after the murder and were caught soon after by federal agents, according to The Morning Call newspaper in Allentown, PA. However, the Sestak murder would go unsolved until March 2015, when both men were indicted by a Queens County grand jury. Hammerstone pleaded guilty last month to first-degree manslaughter charges and is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 1. During the trial, it was mentioned that the shooting may have been the result of a love triangle involving a woman Smith was dating and Sestak. “Justice eluded the family of the victim for more than 25 years, but today a jury rendered its verdict and found Smith guilty of murder,” Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said in a statement on Nov. 23. “As a result, the defendant will likely be locked away for the rest of his life.” According to trial testimony, the execution-style slaying took place on Feb. 8, 1990, as Sestak drove a Dodge station wagon along the westbound lanes of the Grand Central Parkway. Hammerstone sat in the front passenger seat, while Smith rode in the rear of the vehicle. Law enforcement sources said Sestak pulled the station wagon over to the shoulder just after the 69th Road/Jewel Avenue exit on the Grand Central Parkway. Moments later, Smith pulled out a revolver and shot Sestak in the head. Smith then exited the vehicle, walked to the driver’s side door and fired more shots into Sestak. Prosecutors said Hammerstone also shot the victim. Sestak sustained bullet wounds to his skull, brain, neck and lungs and died of his injuries. Smith, who is currently serving an eight-year sentence in federal prison for an attempted bank robbery in New Paltz, NY, is scheduled to be sentenced for the Sestak murder on Jan. 28; he faces up to 25 years to life behind bars.
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