Pennsylvania Man Sentenced in Fatal Stabbing of Flushing Man: Queens DA

A 24-year-old man has been sentenced to 50 years to life in prison for the kidnapping and murder of a Flushing man, the Queens district attorney said.

Domingo Mateo, of Reading, Penn., was convicted last week of kidnapping and murdering Flushing’s Thomas Shanis, 33, as well as kidnapping the victim’s 80-year-old mother during a home invasion and robbery.

“The sentence imposed in this case is more than justified and reflects the seriousness of the crime,” Queens DA Richard Brown said. “The defendant has been convicted of lying in wait for his victim and then viciously attacking him and tying up his mother during the course of ransacking their apartment.”

Mateo was convicted of second-degree murder, kidnapping, burglary, robbery, menacing and criminal possession of a weapon following a two-week jury trial.

Supreme Court Justice Ira Margulis imposed a sentence of 50 years to life in prison for the defendant.

According to trial testimony, the victim, who was a reputed marijuana dealer, left his apartment on Ash Avenue on May 3, 2011 to walk his dog, the DA said. While he was gone, Mateo entered his building.

Upon Shanis’s return, Mateo attacked him in the hallway and Juan Mejia, an alleged accomplice, pistol-whipped the victim on his head.

Mateo stabbed Shanis in his back and also wounded the dog, forcing his way into the apartment, where Zelda Shanis, the victim’s mother, also lived.

The elderly woman was bound with duct tape, while her son was bound and left on the kitchen floor to bleed to death, the DA said.

The defendant and his alleged accomplice then ransacked Shanis’s bedroom and removed several items.

Mejia has been indicted on murder, kidnapping and other charges, Brown said. He is currently awaiting trial.