BRONX MAN SENTENCED TO 23 YEARS TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR HIS ROLE IN ROBBERY THAT LED TO MURDER

 

Defendant Helped Case Eatery for Customers with Jewelry, Drove Getaway Car After Victim Slain for Fake Gold Chain

Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced that a Bronx man has been sentenced to 23 years to life in prison for Murder, Attempted Murder and other charges for being the getaway driver in an armed robbery that left one man dead and another seriously wounded. 

District Attorney Clark said, “This defendant participated in a calculated armed robbery, during which one man was fatally shot and another wounded, all for a chain that turned out to be fake gold. The defendant was the getaway driver, and the shooters were never caught. Now he will spend many years in prison for this vicious crime.” 

District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Kadeem Edwards, 24, of 1841 Cross Bronx Expressway, the Bronx, was sentenced on August 20, 2025, to 23 years to life in prison for second-degree Murder, 20 years plus five years post release supervision for first-degree Robbery, 20 years plus five years post release supervision for Attempted Murder in the Second Degree, and 15 years plus five years post release supervision for first-degree Attempted Assault, all sentences to run concurrently, by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Rosenblueth. He was found guilty by a jury of the charges on December 18, 2024.

According to the facts brought out at trial, on November 13, 2021, at approximately 4:50 PM, in front of the Maribella Paradise Restaurant at 1460 Macombs Road in the Highbridge neighborhood, the defendant and three unapprehended accomplices were sitting in a Mercedes looking for customers wearing jewelry. 

When Jonathan Pena, 32, and Sergio Ortiz 46, exited the restaurant to smoke a cigarette, Edwards’ accomplices approached them, pointing 9-mm pistols at them. As one of the robbers grabbed a chain from Pena’s neck, Ortiz turned to run back into the restaurant, and another accomplice fired multiple shots, striking both Pena and Ortiz in their torsos. The robbers jumped back in the car and Edwards sped away. Pena died at a hospital, and Ortiz survived serious internal injuries. 

District Attorney Clark thanked NYPD Detective Patrick Flatley of the Bronx Homicide Squad, NYPD Detective Jeffrey Lehn of the NYPD Auto Crime Unit, and NYPD Police Officers Gregory Piro and Andrew Alvarado, both formerly of the 44th Precinct for their work on the investigation.