Melinda Katz, Queens District Attorney, sentenced Jamaican Troy Thomas who was on the run in Guyana for eight years to 25 years to life in prison for shooting a man at a South Richmond Hill house party more than a decade ago.
At a birthday party in December 2011, Thomas got into a petty dispute with Keith Frank, who had moved to Queens from Guyana at the age of 12. Eight months after becoming a father to Keyanna, the victim was shot in the torso near 109th Avenue and 132nd Street.
Two months before his 21st birthday, EMS responded to the scene and transported the victim to New York-Presbyterian Queens Hospital. Nearly eight years after Thomas fled Queens, NYPD detectives found him living in Guyana. Despite fighting extradition, he was eventually returned to Queens to face murder charges.
“Despite being on the run for eight years, the defendant has now been held to account for committing this senseless murder,” Katz said. “The family and loved ones of the victim, who had just become a father at the time of his death, were denied justice for more than a decade. Today, I hope they can finally put this sad chapter to rest knowing that the defendant will spend a lengthy jail term in prison for his criminal actions.”
Thomas was sentenced to life in prison by Justice Yavinsky on Aug. 5.
