Mineola, NY - November 28, 2018 - Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced that a Bronx man was convicted of murder today for the stabbing death of a 39-year old landscaper outside a Hempstead bar in April 2016.
Daniel Abrego Davila, 33, was convicted by a jury of Murder in the Second Degree (an A-I felony) and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree (an A misdemeanor). The trial, before Judge Helene Gugerty, lasted approximately a month and the jury deliberated for two hours. The defendant is due back for sentencing January 4 and faces a maximum of 25 years to life in prison.
“A 39-year-old man’s life was cut drastically short when he was brutally stabbed to death by this defendant,” DA Singas said. “Today’s conviction ensures this defendant will be off the streets and behind bars for many years to come.”
DA Singas said that on April 10, 2016, shortly after 1 a.m., victim Rolando Cruz, of Freeport, was leaving the Nuevo Arco Iris bar on Fulton Avenue in Hempstead. As the victim was exiting the establishment, defendant Davila and his two friends were attempting to get into the bar but were refused entry by a bouncer. After an exchange of words between the victim and the three men, Cruz was corralled and a physical confrontation ensued.
Davila used a knife to stab the victim approximately five times in the neck, torso, arm and back. The victim collapsed on the sidewalk in front of the bar and he was taken by ambulance to Winthrop Hospital. He was pronounced dead at 1:35 a.m. that morning. The defendant then fled the scene and took the murder weapon.
Davila was arrested on February 19, 2017 in Hempstead by members of the Hempstead Police Department and NCPD.
Deputy Bureau Chief Veronica Guariglia and Senior Assistant District Attorney Michelle Lewisohn of DA Singas’ Special Operations, Narcotics and Gangs Bureau is prosecuting this case. Patrick Haughey, Esq. represents the defendant.