Forest Hills Man Behind Botched Robbery Stabbing Death Sentenced: DA

QUEENS, NY — A Forest Hills man who participating in a botched robbery that left one person stabbed to death will spend nearly two decades of his life in prison, prosecutors announced.

Kristof Williams — the 27-year-old convicted in March of second degree murder in a 2016 fatal home invasion — was sentenced to 16 years to life in Queens Supreme Court, the District Attorney's office announced Friday.

In the dead of night Nov. 30, 2016, Williams and three other people broke into a South Richmond Hill house in search of Xanax pills and marijuana and found Eddie Ventura, 20, playing video games with some friends, prosecutors said. In an ensuing fight, Ventura was stabbed numerous times and ultimately succumbed to the wounds, according to the DA.

At the time, police sources told the New York Daily News that the four attackers, who had ties to a gang, were planning to steal a stash of pills from Ventura who allegedly dealt drugs.

In March, a two-week trial brought the five-year-old crime to a close when a jury found Williams guilty of second degree murder and burglary, prosecutors said.

The three other people involved in the case — Khalil Moses, John Pichardo, and Jose Pichardo — have all plead guilty to charges connected to Ventura's murder, and been sentenced to time in prison, according to the DA.

"This defendant is the last of four men held responsible for breaking into a South Richmond Hill home six years ago in search of money and drugs. The defendant’s actions led to the senseless loss of a young man’s life," said District Attorney Melinda Katz.

"No amount of time can dull the grief of the victim’s family and friends but hopefully justice will offer them a measure of closure."

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