Third Defendant Still Being Sought
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a Manhattan man has been indicted for the kidnapping and murder of two people who were shot execution style and left in a burning car on the side of a road near Pelham Bay Park.
District Attorney Clark said, “The victims were shot and virtually cremated when they were found. We are holding accountable those who allegedly participated in this brutal crime and will continue to pursue justice for the family of these two young people.”
District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Rahul Cuya, 24, of Baruch Drive, Manhattan, is charged with first-degree Murder, six counts of second-degree Murder, two counts of firstdegree Manslaughter, two counts of first-degree Arson, two counts of second-degree Arson, two counts of third-degree Arson, two counts of first-degree Kidnapping, two counts of second-degree Kidnapping, two counts of first-degree Criminal Use of a Firearm, three counts of second-degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon, two counts of first degree Robbery, third-degree Grand Larceny and fourth-degree Grand Larceny. Cuya was arrested on March 12, 2024, and was arraigned today before Bronx Supreme Court Justice Brenda Rivera. The defendant was remanded and is due back in court on June 21, 2023. Jahmel Sanders was arraigned on the indictment on March 9, 2023, and a third defendant is still being sought.
According to the investigation, on May 16, 2022, the defendant in concert with others allegedly kidnapped Nikki Huang, 22, and Jesse Parrilla, 22, transported them to Shore Road near Pelham Bay Park, where they were shot execution-style. The car was set on fire with the victims inside of it. Huang suffered bullet wounds to her head and neck. Parilla suffered bullet wounds to his head and chest. Their bodies were burned almost to ash.
According to the investigation, on May 15, 2022, at 9:30 p.m., Huang told friends who are alleged gang members that she was robbed of a purse in Manhattan, and two hours later, a man was fatally shot in Manhattan.
At approximately 1:20 a.m. on May 16, 2022, Parrilla drove his mother’s Honda Accord and was dropping off Huang near her home on the Lower East Side when the defendants allegedly grabbed him and put him in another vehicle, and one of the defendant’s took the Accord. Approximately 20 minutes later Huang was lured out of her building and was taken in the same Honda Accord. The victims were driven to Queens and then the Bronx. At approximately 4:16 a.m. Parilla’s mother’s Accord was discovered in flames on Shore Road near a golf course.
District Attorney Clark thanked NYPD Detectives Sheldon Smith of Bronx Homicide, Pedro Gomez of the Violent Felony Squad, and John Soto of the 45th Precinct for their work in the investigation.
An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.
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