On May 7, New York police arrested a man on suspicion of murdering a Brooklyn psychology professor in his home. The incident took place on Stratford Road in Ditmas Park.
According to news sources, a 20-year-old Binghamton University student entered a not guilty plea to second-degree murder charges. The man is accused of stabbing a fellow university student in the student’s dorm room.
A judge set mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor free on $50,000 bail following a melee at the Barclay Center during a media event. The purpose of the event was to publicize a series of fights set to take place in Brooklyn. McGregor, the best-known fighter in MMA, is facing one count of criminal mischief and three counts of assault. The Ultimate Fighting Championship had announced its intention to strip him of his title, and the incident is believed to be related to that. McGregor turned himself in to police after video of the incident went viral.
A 37-year-old New York man faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole for the slaying of a Muslim cleric and his assistant in August 2016. A state Supreme Court jury spent a day deliberating before returning guilty verdicts on two counts of murder in the second degree, one count of murder in the first degree and a weapons possession charge. Sentencing in the case is scheduled to take place on April 18.
On Nov. 21, a grand jury handed down an indictment featuring 22 charges against the 29-year-old man accused of killing eight people in a New York terror attack. It was believed that the New Jersey resident became inspired by an ISIS video.
On Jan. 29, a 65-year-old man was sentenced to 15 years in a New York prison. The man, formerly a high school librarian, was found guilty of conspiring to rape, kidnap and murder women. He had been in custody since he was detained in 2013.
New York City has reached its lowest per-capita murder rate in decades with 290 people killed in the city in 2017. According to Police Commissioner James O’Neill, the last time the murder rate was lower was during the Korean War. In 1990, there were 2,245 murders. O’Neill said it had been assumed that the murder rate in the city could not drop lower than 300.
A husband was taken into custody for the alleged murder of his wife on December 27, 2017. The 22-year old victim was found in the basement of their brownstone. The husband is accused of pushing the victim down the stairs leading to the basement. They had been married for just nine months.
According to a Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law study, the crime rate in the United States is expected to go down by 1.8 percent in 2017. If this is true, it would represent the second-lowest rate of crime since 1990. New York residents may also be interested to know that the nation-wide violent crime rate is expected to drop by .6 percent in 2017.
A 27-year-old Waterbury man is facing murder charges in the death of a 16-year old girl who was found dead in a car on Dec. 4. According to the man, who has several children by the girl’s aunt, he killed her after she threatened to inform his girlfriend about their relationship.