A Richmond Hill man was sentenced last week to 10 years in prison for stabbing his roommate’s friend in the heart following a verbal misunderstanding, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
Luis Zeledon, 27, who lived on 123rd Street, pleaded guilty last November to first-degree manslaughter. He had been held in jail since his arrest in January 2010.
According to the DA, Zeledon and his girlfriend had gone to bed after hanging out with Zeledon’s roommate, Marlon Montalvan, and Montalvan’s friend, Andy Herrera, 28, on Jan. 19, 2010 when Zeledon thought he heard his roommate say something disparaging about him.
After exiting the bedroom, Zeledon began verbally arguing with his roommate in the kitchen and picked up two large knives by the sink and used one to cut Montalvan on the forearm, Brown said.
Herrera came to the aid of his friend and used the chair in which he had been sitting as a shield against Zeledon, Brown said.
While Herrera was trying to defend his friend, Zeledon stabbed the 28-year-old one time in the chest, according to the DA.
Herrera dropped the chair and ran out of the apartment, collapsing in the building’s vestibule.
He died soon after arriving at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, the DA said.
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