Medford woman sentenced in boyfriend's slaying
Cynthia Dean, 32, is escorted out of the Fourth Precinct en route to arraignment in Central Islip Criminal Court on charges of fatally stabbing her boyfriend, Melvin Garcia, 48, in their Medford home. (Nov. 7, 2011) Credit: James Carbone
A Medford woman was sentenced Thursday to 8 years in prison for fatally stabbing her boyfriend while arguing about a pregnancy she had been faking, the Suffolk County district attorney's office said.
Judge John Toomey Jr. of Suffolk County Court in Riverhead imposed the sentence on Cynthia Dean, 34, under terms of her guilty plea in January to manslaughter in the first degree in the death of Melvin Garcia, 48, on Nov. 6, 2011.
Garcia's family said Dean had tricked the man into moving from Brooklyn to Medford by claiming she was pregnant. The family said the fatal argument began when Garcia asked Dean to stop smoking for the sake of the unborn child.
