NEW YORK, NY – Kevin Carroll, 39, is going to prison after being sentenced to 18 years for robbery, aggravated assault and committing a hate crime, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
“Carroll, of 104th Street in Manhattan, was found guilty of robbery in the second degree and aggravated harassment in the second degree, a hate crime, following a two-week-long jury trial. Queens Supreme Court Justice John Zoll, who presided at trial, sentenced the defendant to a term of 18 years-to-life in prison as a mandatory persistent felony offender,” the Queens District Attorney said. “The defendant’s criminal history includes a 2000 conviction for attempted robbery of a 15-year-old and a 2003 conviction for the attempted aggravated assault of a police officer who approached him as he panhandled in the subway. When the female officer asked him for identification, Carroll body slammed her onto the platform and tried to shove her onto the tracks as a train entered the station.”
District Attorney Katz said, “Our Office successfully prosecuted the defendant after he targeted a man waiting for a train at the Long Island Railroad Jamaica train station in July 2020 and hurled homophobic insults and slurs and then robbed the victim. Hate has no place in Queens. A jury weighed the evidence presented at trial and found the defendant guilty. Today, a judge ordered him to prison as punishment for his hateful actions.”
Continuing, DA Katz said, the victim fell to the train platform where he lost consciousness. The defendant took the victim’s cell phone and his gym bag then fled the scene. Video surveillance at the station captured the defendant’s movements minutes before the attack as well as afterwards.
The victim suffered a permanent injury to one of his retinas due to the incident.