DA: Hempstead man gets 19 years in prison in fatal Hempstead stabbing
Jose Ortiz-Trochez was sentenced Wednesday to 19 years in prison for a 2019 fatal stabbing. He is shown leaving Nassau police headquarters in Mineola on April 3, 2019. Credit: Howard Schnapp
A Hempstead man was sentenced to 19 years in prison Wednesday for a 2019 fatal stabbing at Brierley Park in Hempstead, the Nassau County district attorney said.
Jose Ortiz-Trochez, 21, pleaded guilty in February to manslaughter in the killing of Juan Gabriel Chic-Sian, District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced Wednesday.
Homicide detectives said the two men had been drinking in the park on March, 28, 2019, when, just before midnight, they began arguing about alcohol and other items.
Police said Ortiz-Trochez grabbed a kitchen knife he had seen near the park entrance and ran back to stab Chic-Sian in the stomach.
Chic-Sian walked over to a nearby laundromat and collapsed in a parking lot. He was taken to NYU Langone Hospital-Long Island in Mineola where he was pronounced dead.
His attorney, Bob Schalk, said Ortiz-Trochez had no criminal record.
"He expressed deep remorse and accepted responsibility for his actions," Schalk said.
Nassau County Judge Teresa Corrigan sentenced Ortiz-Trochez to 19 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release.
“We can never truly know what drove the defendant to take 34-year-old Juan Gabriel Chic-Sian’s life, but we do know that he will now spend many years in prison paying for his crime,” Donnelly said in a statement. “Any kind of violence on our streets and in our parks will not be tolerated. We will continue working with our partners at the Nassau County Police Department and other police departments throughout our cities, towns, and villages, to ensure that the perpetrators of violence in our communities are brought to justice.”
John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.
