A US-based Guyanese man was yesterday charged with the murder of his 29-year-old nephew, who he allegedly stabbed to death with a machete during a dispute on Sunday in Queens, New York.
Dead is Neraz Roberts. He was stabbed in his back and arm in the basement which he occupied at 88-27 187th Place, Queens, NY around 5 am.
The suspect who has been identified as 50-year-old Mahadeo Sukhnandan was yesterday charged with the murder and weapons possession.
According to a New York Post report, the incident stemmed from a property dispute.
The report stated that a neighbour, Ryan Basdeo related that the family has been experiencing problems for over two years following the passing of the owner of the house.
According to the report, Basdeo explained that the owner of the house left her children and Sukhnandan to sort out the ownership of the house.
Sukhnandan is the husband of the home owner’s daughter.
“Since the mother died, they’ve been fighting,” the report quoted Basdeo saying. “Always cops coming here.”
The report stated that the situation escalated on Sunday when Sukhnandan attacked Roberts with a machete. “The son is the one in the basement who got stabbed,” Basdeo said. “He argues a little, but it’s really been [his] father and the uncle most of the time,” the report said.
The house was occupied by the children of the home owner and their families.
In a separate report, the New York Daily News yesterday said that Sukhnandan was arraigned. He claimed Roberts wanted to kill him.
The New York Daily News reported that prosecutors confirmed that Sukhnandan confessed to the crime.
“I chopped him up. He wanted to kill me,” Sukhnandan told cops, according to court documents. “After everything I do for them, his whole life he’s wanted to kill me,” the report stated.
It added that Sukhnandan also detailed the incident.
“I got my cutlass, it’s a machete with a wooden handle,” Sukhnandan said. “I kicked open the door. I chopped him three times. I paused between the second and third chop and said, ‘You want to kill me?’ I leaned back for leverage on the third chop,” the report explained.
Police recovered the machete at the scene. A grand jury has been scheduled for June 17.
