Brooklyn Landlord Convicted Of Murder For Shooting Death of Tenant
September 10, 2015 by Ernest Johnson
Terrorized Second Tenant and Her Children With Pipe After the Shooting
Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson today announced that a 63-year-old East New York landlord has been convicted of second-degree murder and other charges for gunning down his 51-year-old tenant following a dispute over unpaid rent and then confronting and assaulting a second tenant and her children.
District Attorney Thompson said, "This defendant was out of control – he shot to death his tenant over unpaid rent and then went on to terrorize and assault another tenant and her two young children. He destroyed not only the victim's life but his own as he will likely spend the rest of his days behind bars."
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Phillip Estevez, 63, of 566 Shepherd Avenue, in East New York, Brooklyn. He was convicted today of one count of second-degree murder, three counts of second-degree assault and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child following a jury trial before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Albert Tomei, who set sentencing for May 26, 2015. The defendant faces 25 years to life in prison on the top count.
The District Attorney said that, according to trial testimony, on March 10, 2013, at 566 Shepherd Avenue, the defendant, who rented out rooms in his one family house, confronted Luis Martinez, 51, who rented a room in the basement, over unpaid rent. During the confrontation Estevez pulled out a gun and shot Martinez twice in the head and once in the chest, killing him.
The defendant then went up to the second floor of the house, where he rented rooms to tenant Ana Rodriguez and her husband and their two children. Ana Rodriguez was home alone with her two children, an 11-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl. They tried to hide from the defendant, but he confronted them, striking the mother and the girl in the head with a pipe, and causing the boy to jump out of a window to seek help. Both the boy, who broke his foot after jumping, and the girl, escaped and ran to the nearby 75th precinct stationhouse to alert police.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Robert Walsh, of the District Attorney's Homicide Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Kenneth Taub, Bureau Chief.
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