Man Charged With Murder For Stabbing Grandmother To Death: DA

BRENTWOOD, NY - A Brentwood man was indicted on Friday for stabbing and killing his grandmother in December 2017, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini,

Kevin Sanchez, 23, was charged with second degree murder, the DA said.

Shortly after 11:00 p.m. on Dec. 22, 2017, Sanchez and his grandmother, 65-year-old Paula Chavez Quintanilla, who was visiting from El Salvador, left their family’s home in Brentwood in a white Jeep SUV to look at Christmas lights and decorations on houses in the neighborhood, the DA said.

Sanchez returned home about an hour later without Quintanilla and told family members that she was still in the car, the DA said.

When they noticed Quintanilla was not in the car, the family contacted police and conducted a search for her throughout the night and into the next morning, the DA said.

Her body was discovered at 9 a.m. on Dec. 23, 2017 by a woman in the back parking lot of the office building on 150 Motor Parkway in Hauppauge.

She appeared to be the victim of a stabbing.

According to the Suffolk County Office of the Medical Examiner, Quintanilla was stabbed about 60 times.

An investigation into the alleged murder revealed evidence linking Sanchez to the crime scene, including DNA evidence from a gray sweatshirt recovered at the scene that Sanchez was wearing when he and Quintanilla were last seen together, the DA said.

When interviewed by detectives, Sanchez allegedly gave conflicting accounts of his and his grandmother’s whereabouts on the night of the murder that were inconsistent with other evidence, including video surveillance of locations in which he claimed to have been, according to the DA.

Sanchez was arraigned on Friday by Suffolk County Court Judge Philip Goglas and he was remanded without bail.

If convicted of the top count, Sanchez faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

Sanchez is due back in court on April 17.

"This is a shocking and tragic case, but it is also unfortunately one of many instances of family violence that occur each year around the holiday season," Sini said.