QUEENS, NY – Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced the sentencing of Goey Charles, 33, of Uniondale, to 25 years to life for the murder of his pregnant girlfriend, Vanessa Pierre, in October 2020. Charles was found guilty of second-degree murder.
DA Katz underscored the brutality of the crime and the heartless manner in which Charles disposed of Pierre’s body. Despite the sentence, Katz noted that it cannot compensate for the loss of Vanessa and her unborn child but serves to uphold justice in her memory.
The court heard how Charles drove Pierre’s car to near 216-07 Horace Harding Expressway on October 23, 2020. Evidence revealed a series of events inside the car, concluding with Charles dragging Pierre’s lifeless body out of the vehicle and abandoning her on the sidewalk. An MTA bus driver discovered her body around 6:00 a.m., with a pair of sweatpants wrapped around her neck. The medical examiner confirmed death by asphyxia due to neck compression.
Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder delivered the sentence on November 30.