Queens man gets 25 years for murdering girlfriend and attempting to kill her mother

May 10, 2023 Rob Abruzzese

The New York State Supreme Court is shown, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020 in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

The New York State Supreme Court.
Photo: Mark Lennihan/AP.

Share this:

A 30-year-old man from Ridgewood, Queens, has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the murder of his former girlfriend and the attempted murder of her mother.

Gabriel Rivera shared two children with the woman he killed, Sade Sanchez, who was 24 years old.

Justice Rhonda Tomlinson of the Brooklyn Supreme Court handed down the sentence after Rivera pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, third-degree attempted assault, and first-degree stalking on March 29, 2023.

“This defendant’s calculated, cold-blooded murder cut short Sade Sanchez’s life and robbed her family and friends of a beloved mother, daughter, and friend,” said District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. “With today’s substantial prison sentence, this defendant will no longer be a threat to anyone else in our community.”

The District Attorney’s investigation revealed that Sanchez had ended her nine-year relationship with Rivera, the father of her children, on Sept. 1, 2018. After the breakup, Rivera began stalking Sanchez, frequently calling, texting and showing up outside her Bushwick home.

On Oct. 6, 2018, Rivera confronted a 21-year-old male friend of Sanchez outside her home on Menahan Street, punching him three times in the head and warning him to stay away from “his woman.”

The following day, Rivera ambushed Sanchez, her 46-year-old mother, and the same friend from the previous day as they walked along Menahan Street.

Rivera shot Sanchez five times, continuing to fire at her even after she fell to the ground. He then aimed the gun at her mother’s face and pulled the trigger, but the weapon failed to discharge. Rivera fled the scene and was apprehended the next day.