PRESS RELASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 11, 2006

Contact: William J. Smith (718) 556-7150
William.Smith@rcda.nyc.gov

D.A. DONOVAN: MAN INDICTED FOR MURDER IN APRIL ’06 SHOOTING OF LIVERY CAB DRIVER

***Eldred Leitzsey, 41, Indicted for April 19th Robbery and Murder of Livery Cab Driver; Also Separately Indicted in Connection With 2 Slashings in Borough***

STATEN ISLAND, NY – Richmond County District Attorney Daniel M. Donovan, Jr. today announced that Eldred Leitzsey, 41, of Manhattan, has been named in two indictments voted by a Staten Island Grand Jury in relation to the April 19, 2006 murder of a livery cab driver at Vanderbilt Avenue; as well as two unrelated slashing incidents in the Park Hill section of the borough.

On April 19, 2006, at approximately 3:10 AM, the defendant, while a passenger in a livery car, shot the driver, Kwame Appeagyei, 55, one time in the back of the head killing him; in the course of a robbery of the victim and another passenger in the vehicle. The defendant is alleged to have stolen a gold chain, a ring, and currency from the passenger in the vehicle. The indictment charges: one count of Murder in the 1st Degree, two counts of Murder in the 2nd Degree, one count of Robbery in the 1st Degree, two counts of Attempted Robbery in the 1st Degree, one count of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the 2nd Degree, two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the 3rd Degree and 2 counts of Assault in the 1st Degree. If convicted of the top charge in the indictment, Leitzsey faces a maximum of life in prison.

In a separate 4-count indictment, the defendant has been charged with two counts each of Assault in the 1st Degree and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the 3rd Degree. On March 25, 2006, at approximately 5:30 AM, within the confined of the Park Hill Apartments, the defendant is alleged to have slashed a 38 year old woman about the face with a razor causing more than thirty stitches. On February 4, 2006, at approximately 2:10 AM, at the corner of Vanderbilt Avenue and Targee Street, the defendant is alleged to have slashed a 42 year old man in the face with a razor causing injury from the right ear to nose of the defendant.

Assistant District Attorney Tom Reilly will be prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Mario Mattei, Chief of the Investigations Bureau. The defendant is represented by Manuel Ortega, Esq.

He is scheduled to be arraigned next Wednesday, May 17th, 2006 in State Supreme Court in St. George.

The public is reminded than an indictment is merely an accusation, and that a defendant is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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