Jury Found Defendant Guilty of Manslaughter and Other Charges
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a Bronx man has been
sentenced to 25 years in prison for Manslaughter in the fatal stabbing of a 69-year-old woman.
The defendant was also sentenced to five years in prison for Assault and three and a half years
to seven years in prison for Reckless Endangerment.
District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant carried out a series of appalling acts; first
by viciously stabbing his former landlady in her home’s basement. He then returned to the
scene of the crime and attempted to conceal his actions by trying to blow up the victim’s home.
About a week after the murder, he assaulted a NYPD Police Officer who had stopped him on
the street.”
District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Nakia Bent, 39, who at the time of the incident
had been recently released from jail after serving time for assaulting his ex-wife, was sentenced
to prison today by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Steven Barrett. Bent was sentenced to 25
years in prison for first-degree Manslaughter, three and a half years to seven years in prison
for first-degree Reckless Endangerment, and five years for second-degree Assault, to be served
consecutively. A jury found the defendant guilty of the charges on November 7, 2019.
According to the investigation, on or about and between October 8-9, 2016 the defendant
went to 886 Crawford Avenue, where his ex-wife lived on the first floor. The defendant entered
through the basement apartment where Lilawate Ramsaran, 69, lived alone. He stabbed Ramsaran
19 times, including 14 times in the back, causing her death. On October 9, 2016, he returned to
the victim’s home, disconnected the stove’s gas line and lit candles inside the apartment. The
defendant’s ex-wife called 911 after smelling gas and FDNY Firemen found Ramsaran. She was
pronounced dead at the scene. According to the FDNY, the house was dangerously close to
exploding when Firemen arrived, endangering the lives of the defendant’s ex-wife, her 14-yearold son and another individual.
On October 17, 2016, the defendant assaulted a NYPD Police Officer of the 47th Precinct
after the cop stopped him on the street. Bent bit the Officer on his arm, breaking the skin and
causing him to seek medical attention at a hospital.
Bent was arrested for Ramsaran’s death on April 11, 2017, after his DNA was identified
from the crime scene.
District Attorney Clark thanked Detective Robert Regnier of the 47th
Precinct and retired Detective Matthew McCrosson of Bronx Homicide for their assistance in the
investigation
