Man Who Killed Girlfriend, Abandoned Body In Car, Pleads Guilty: DA

QUEENS — A man from Troy pleaded guilty to the killing of his 26-year-old girlfriend and stuffing her in the back of a car nearly three years ago in Queens, prosecutors said. Wednesday.

Kareem Flake, 31, faces 22 years in prison after the body of Destini Smothers was found in the back of Flake's abandoned car in March 2021, four months after she was reported missing, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said.

Flake was arrested for manslaughter on April 9, 2022, in Osceola County, Florida, and later extradited to New York, Katz said.

Smothers was last seen in a car with Flake after celebrating her birthday with friends at a Woodside bowling alley on November 3, 2020, and she was reported missing five days later, the district attorney said.

A tow truck operator was removing a Toyota Camry that had been abandoned at the intersection of 134th Avenue and 151st Place in South Jamaica when he found Smothers's remains in the back 0f the car on March 10, 2021, Katz said.

The 26-year-old died from a gunshot wound to the head, per the New York City Medical Examiner, prosecutors said.

The 31-year-old New York man is scheduled to be sentenced on September 28, 2023, the district attorney said.