A Bronx man was convicted of murder and other crimes Tuesday, Oct. 5, for his participation in a botched home invasion that resulted in the death of a 20-year-old Queens man in 2016.
The defendant, Jose Pichardo, 27, Creston Avenue, will be sentenced Oct. 26 and faces up to 25 years-to-life in prison.
“Following a nearly two-week-long trial, a jury found this defendant guilty of murder in the death of a young man, who was playing video games when he was suddenly attacked in a friend’s home,” said Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz. “This defendant participated in a horrible act of violence. He now faces a lengthy term of incarceration when sentenced by the court.”
According to the investigation, at approximately 2 a.m. on Nov. 30, 2016, Pichardo along with three others allegedly entered a home on 110th Street in South Richmond Hill, Queens. The defendants had been told by a fifth co-defendant that the occupant of the home was a friend of her ex-boyfriend and that they could find Xanax pills, marijuana and cash inside.
Katz said the defendants found Eddie Ventura, 20, in a bedroom playing video games with two others. Pichardo’s co-defendant Khalil Moses, who was armed with a knife, fought with Ventura and stabbed him numerous times in the back and thigh. Ventura died as a result of the stab wounds.
Moses plead guilty to manslaughter in the first degree and was sentenced to 21 years in prison in September 2020. Pichardo’s brother John Pichardo pleaded guilty to burglary in the first degree and was sentenced in July 2020 to 15 years in prison. The cases against the fourth and fifth defendants are pending.
