A Guyanese national has been sentenced to 19 years to life in prison for killing a teenage guest at a New York wedding on Long Island, in 1999.
Balkumar Singh, 38, was handed down the sentence on Monday in Nassau County Court, Long Island, by Judge Christopher Quinn, according to reports in the New York media.
He had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and assault in the 1999 fatal shooting of 19-year-old Abzal Khan, in November. Khan was shot multiple times following a dispute with Singh.
The reports said that on the evening of June 13, 1999, Singh was armed with a 9mm handgun when he attended a wedding at the Masonic Temple catering hall in Hicksville.
“During the reception, Singh got into an argument with Abzal Khan on the dance floor and later ambushed the teenager as he exited the venue. Singh shot Khan at least seven times in front of 20 onlookers. According to the victim’s father, Khan did not know his killer,” the Daily Mail reported.
Singh, a US citizen, spent 16 years in hiding following the murder, according to the Daily Mail, and American lawmen had listed him as one of the country’s most wanted criminals. Singh had been featured in a 2009 episode of ‘America’s Most Wanted.’
He had fled to Guyana following the murder, and later travelled to Canada, where he had several brushes with the law.
In March 2015, Police acting on a tip, the Daily Mail reported, finally caught up with Singh in Trinidad. He was arrested for violating immigration laws under the fake name Shauwn Maharaj.
“A local Interpol office helped identify the detainee as American fugitive Balkumar Singh, and he was extradited to Long Island four months later,” the news agency reported.
The Trinidad Guardian reported that during his years in hiding, Singh had several aliases including Kevin Persaud, Terry Persaud, Kumar Doodnath, Terry Singh and Sean Maharaj.
In a Newsday report, Khan’s father said he was satisfied with the sentence handed down but wished it would have been a longer sentence. Newsday reported that the father said his son had graduated from high school and was getting ready to start college to pursue his dream of becoming a doctor when he was murdered.
