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James Fitzgerald has pleaded guilty to nearly killing his estranged girlfriend.
By Forum Staff
A Bronx man has pleaded guilty to nearly killing his estranged girlfriend in May 2020, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Friday.
James Fitzgerald, 55, pleaded guilty on Thursday to attempted murder in the second degree before Queens Supreme Court Justice Toni Cimino. Sentencing was set for July 1, 2022, at which time Cimino indicated she will order Fitzgerald to prison for 19 years, to be followed by five years’ post-release supervision. A full order of protection will also be issued on behalf of the victim.
According to court records, just before 6 p.m. on May 16, 2020, Fitzgerald physically abused his estranged 35-year-old girlfriend in front of a fish market on 150th Street in Jamaica. Fitzgerald knocked the woman to the ground and relentlessly beat the victim with fists and also kicked her several times. Fitzgerald ignored on-lookers yelling for him to stop, but briefly walked away from the woman only to return a moment later with a wooden plank studded with nails. Fitzgerald then used the blunt object to slam the victim in the face repeatedly.
Police arrived on the scene just as Fitzgerald was walking away from the nearly dead woman. When officers ordered Fitzgerald to halt, he ran but was apprehended following a short foot chase.
The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital. The woman suffered permanent loss of vision in her right eye and her face was permanently disfigured due to a crushed orbital bone and several severe facial fractures.
DA Katz said, police recovered the bloody wooden plank with several nails protruding from it from the scene of the attack as well as the victim’s broken teeth that were scattered on the sidewalk.
