What there is to know
- A 44-year-old Queens man has pleaded guilty to stabbing his wife to death during an argument inside their apartment in 2020, a brutal scene that took place right in front of the victim’s daughter, a said the local district attorney.
- Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Thursday that Carmelo Mendoza had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder the day before in connection with the death of 45-year-old Yaquelin Collado.
- Mendoza is expected to be sentenced on May 11 to an indeterminate sentence of 18 years to life in prison.
NEW YORK – A 44-year-old Queens man has pleaded guilty to stabbing his wife to death during an argument inside their apartment in 2020, a brutal scene that unfolded right in front of the daughter of the victim, the New York prosecutor said. .
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Thursday that Carmelo Mendoza had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder the day before in connection with the death of 45-year-old Yaquelin Collado.
According to the charges, in the early hours of July 3, 2020, Mendoza got into an argument with Collado in his bedroom, an argument that continued into the hallway and then into the kitchen.
When Collado’s 19-year-old daughter heard their screams, she ran towards the couple and saw Mendoza repeatedly stab her mother in the chest, neck and chest, according to the charges. The young woman tried to stop Mendoza by throwing objects at him and tried to pull him away from his mother.
Although Mendoza fell to the ground, he got up and continued to stab Collado, according to the charges. That’s when Collado said to his daughter, “I’m dying, get out of here.” Hearing this, the girl ran out of the apartment and started knocking on her neighbors’ doors, screaming for help. She then called her boyfriend and 911.
When police entered the apartment, they found Mendoza lying on Collado in a pool of blood with a kitchen knife nearby.
Mendoza had been stabbed several times in the abdomen.
Collado and Mendoza were taken to a local hospital where Collado was later pronounced dead from approximately 27 stab wounds.
Mendoza was treated for self-inflicted injuries. Collado’s daughter was also injured, having injured her leg while trying to intervene during the violent murder.
Mendoza is expected to be sentenced on May 11 to an indeterminate sentence of 18 years to life in prison.
“This argument, which turned deadly, was a horrific ordeal witnessed unfortunately by the victim’s 19-year-old daughter, who tried in vain to stop the brutal attack. I hope this resolution will give the grieving family some closure,” Katz said.
If you are a victim of domestic violence, call the US National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233. (Help is available in English, Spanish and more than 200 languages through the interpreter service.) If you are in immediate danger, call 911.