E. Meadow man charged in Hempstead slay

Authorities Thursday charged an East Meadow man with killing a Hempstead carpenter, a few blocks from where the victim's son was slain four years ago.

Nassau prosecutors said Herber Guzman, 40, of 2222 Hempstead Tpke., was arraigned on a second-degree murder charge in First District Court in Hempstead, accused of shooting Stanley Cater, 46, with a shotgun.

Cater was shot in the stomach April 26 outside 49 Marvin Ave., four blocks from where his son, Andre Chambers, 23, was killed in March 2008.

Cater's mother, Betty, said Guzman's arrest brings little solace to the family.

"It's not going to bring Stanley back," said Cater, 67, of Hempstead. "I really want to know why he killed my son with a shotgun in the street. It doesn't make sense. And why did they kill Andre?"

Guzman was also charged with drug possession after police found crack cocaine in his car, according to court records.

Police had no immediate comment on how they linked Guzman to the killing.

Cater, a standout youth football player in the 1980s, turned to drugs at an early age and ended up doing several stints in jail for a range of crimes, family members said.

His son, Andre, died in the same drug-plagued neighborhood after he was shot in the head inside a Linden Place home that doubled as a nightclub. That killing remains unsolved, police said.