Jealous Husband Sentenced For Jamaica Ave Stabbing

By Victoria Merlino

A 23-year-old Jamaica man was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for a violent knife attack on a stranger outside a Jamaica Ave. in April 2015.

Williams Hidalgo was standing outside a Jamaica Avenue bar in the early morning hours when he saw his wife out with another man.

Hidalgo tried to fight the man, but the man left without incident. Hidalgo later spotted stranger Otto Ajpacaja, 39, trying to hail a taxi. Hidalgo attacked the man, stabbing him in the upper thigh. As Ajpacaja ran into the street to try to avoice Hidalgo, Hidalgo chased him and stabbed him again in the chest and back, according to court documents. Ajpacaja died soon after the attack

District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced the sentencing decision on Tuesday.

“The victim in this case was the innocent target of the defendant’s misplaced rage. In an unprovoked attack, the defendant fatally stabbed the victim in the leg, back and chest. The blade severed an artery and the man died. As punishment for this craven act, the defendant has now been sentenced and will be incarcerated for a very long time,” Brown said in a statement.

In March, a jury convicted Hidalgo of second-degree murder and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Supreme Court Justice Richard L. Buchter presided over the trial and sentencing.

“He clearly showed no remorse for what he has done and he deserves to be shown no mercy,” Buchter said at the sentencing, according to The New York Post.