Guyanese man gets up to life in imprisonment for murder in US
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz has announced that Troy Thomas, 37, has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison following a jury trial conviction for the December 2011 shooting death of Keith Anthony Frank in South Richmond Hill.
Reports are that Thomas shot the victim at a house party after the two started arguing.
District Attorney Katz said, “Despite being on the run for eight years, the defendant has now been held to account for committing this senseless murder. The family and loved ones of the victim, who had just become a father at the time of his death, were denied justice for more than a decade. Today, I hope they can finally put this sad chapter to rest, knowing that the defendant will spend a lengthy term in prison for his criminal actions.”
Thomas, formerly of 156th Street in Jamaica, Queens, was convicted in May after trial of murder in the second degree before Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Yavinsky.
On Friday, Justice Yavinsky sentenced the defendant to a term of 25 years to life in prison. According to trial testimony, the defendant and the victim attended a house party in South Richmond Hill and became involved in a petty dispute.
As a result of the dispute, the defendant fired a weapon striking Frank once in the chest. The victim, who had just become a father prior to the shooting, was rushed to a local Queens hospital, where he died from his injuries.
The defendant immediately fled New York City but was found living in Guyana, where he fought extradition but was eventually returned to Queens in 2019 to face the murder charge.
Assistant District Attorney George DeLuca-Farrugia, Director of the Queens District Attorney’s Extraditions, Renditions, and Property Release Services, handled the extradition with the assistance of the US Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs and the US Department of State.
