Two of six men who fatally beat LI teen plead guilty, DA says
Facebook photo of Anthony Collao, who was fatally beaten by five teenagers who have pleaded guilty to their roles in the assault while leaving a party early Saturday, March 12, 2011, in Woodhaven. Credit: Facebook
The last two of six men who attacked and beat to death a Bethpage man as he left a party in Queens in March 2011 have pleaded guilty to their roles in the assault, said Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown.
Jonathan Echevarria, 22, of Greene Avenue in Brooklyn pleaded guilty Tuesday to first-degree manslaughter before Queens Supreme Court Justice Joseph Zayas, and Nolis Ogando, 22, of Seneca Avenue in Ridgewood pleaded guilty to first-degree gang assault last week, Brown said in a news release.
Both men entered pleas before Queens Supreme Court Justice Joseph Zayas.
Their attorneys could not be reached for comment.
The defendants were part of a group of young men who crashed a March 12, 2011 birthday party in Woodhaven shouting anti-gay slurs, according to Brown and published reports of the crime.
The men chased down Anthony Collao, 18, of Bethpage after he left with his girlfriend a party that was hosted by two openly gay men, and “violently beat and stomped” him -- one of the attackers wielding a baseball bat, another a cane.
“This was a horribly brutal and unprovoked attack,” Brown said in a news release. “The victim had just left a birthday celebration and was chased down as the defendants yelled gay slurs. When they caught up to the 18-year-old recent high school graduate, the defendants punched, kicked and viciously beat him.”
Collao, a graduate of Island Trees High School in Levittown, died a few days later in Jamaica Hospital.
Brown said that Echevarria will be sentenced on Sept. 28 to 18 years in prison followed by 5 years of post-release supervision and that Ogando, who entered a plea on Sept. 8 to first-degree gang assault, will be sentenced on Sept. 22 to eight years in prison followed by 5 years of post-release supervision.
Four other defendants, Alex Velez, Calvin Pietri, Luis Tabales and Christopher Lozada, have all entered guilty pleas and have been sentenced to prison terms.
Pietri, 22, of Woodhaven, pleaded guilty in May 2013 to first-degree gang assault and was sentenced to 16 years; Tabales, 22, of Richmond Hill, pleaded guilty in May 2013 to first-degree gang assault and was sentenced to 12 years; Lozada, 22, of Woodhaven, pleaded guilty in December 2013 to second-degree assault and was sentenced to four years; Velez, 22, of Queens pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in April 2016 and was sentenced to 18 years
'Beneath the Surface': A look at the rise in shark sightings off LI shores It seems shark sightings are dominating headlines on Long Island and researchers are on a quest to find out why more sharks are showing up in Long Island waters. NewsdayTV meteorologist Rich Von Ohlen discusses how to stay safe.
'Beneath the Surface': A look at the rise in shark sightings off LI shores It seems shark sightings are dominating headlines on Long Island and researchers are on a quest to find out why more sharks are showing up in Long Island waters. NewsdayTV meteorologist Rich Von Ohlen discusses how to stay safe.
