You are reading

Cambria Heights Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison For Attempted Murder of Girlfriend

iStock

Aug. 5, 2020 By Christian Murray

A Cambria Heights man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted murder in the April 2018 attack on his transgender girlfriend, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today.

David Viltus, 31, pleaded guilty in February to attempted murder after admitting that he beat and slashed the victim when she refused to continue selling sex for his own profit.

The attack took place at the Hillside Hotel in Jamaica, Queens where the victim — a 29-year-old transgender woman — was staying. The victim, who had been prostituting herself for the defendant, refused to continue engaging in sex acts for cash.

Viltus, angered by her refusal, punched the victim in the face with a closed fist and used a scalpel to slash her in the face. He smashed a plant on her head and threw her against a door, knocking the door off its hinges.

“The victim in this case was attempting to free herself from exploitation and sex trafficking when the defendant who was taking the money she made viciously attacked her,” Katz said in a statement. “The defendant admitted his guilt and has now been ordered to prison for his criminal actions.”

Viltus, of 221st Street in Cambria Heights, was sentenced by Justice Peter Vallone Jr., who ordered him to serve 10 years in prison, to be followed by five years post release supervision.

Justice Vallone also issued an order of protection barring Viltus from having any contact with the victim.

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

South Ozone Park man killed after crashing into parked DSNY garbage truck in Little Neck: NYPD

A Queens man was killed near Alley Pond Park when he crashed into a garbage truck that was parked in front of a Department of Sanitation garage in Little Neck early Saturday morning.

Police from the 111th Precinct in Bayside responded to a 911 call of a vehicle collision in front of the DSNY facility at 75-05 Douglaston Parkway between the Grand Central Parkway and the Cross Island Parkway at around 1:44 a.m. on March 17. EMS responded to the scene and rushed the victim to North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, where he was pronounced dead a short while later. The deceased was identified as 22-year-old Cesar Juarez-Duarte of South Ozone Park, an NYPD spokeswoman said Monday.