Man Sentenced to 25 Years to Life in Prison for Killing Girlfriend, Dismembering Body and Disposing of it in Trash, Victim’s Body Was Never Found

From the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office:

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that an upstate New York man has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for killing his girlfriend, dismembering her body, and throwing it in the garbage so he could collect her Social Security benefits. The woman’s body was never recovered. The defendant stole approximately $68,000 from her Social Security benefits over a four-year period starting in 2014.

District Attorney Gonzalez said, “Today’s sentence ensures that this defendant now faces serious consequences for this shockingly heartless and depraved murder of an innocent woman. My heart continues to go out to Ms. Quinones’ family and friends, and I hope today’s sentence brings them a measure of solace.”

The District Attorney identified the defendant as Ricky Gonzalez, 39, of Beacon, New York. The defendant was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun to 25 years to life. He was convicted of second-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence, third-degree grand larceny, first-degree identity theft, and fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property on April 3, 2023, following a jury trial.

The District Attorney said that, according to the evidence, between March 5, 2014, and September 30, 2014, the defendant killed Maria Quinones, 58, inside her home on Wilson Avenue in Bushwick, Brooklyn. The defendant followed the victim into the bathroom and stabbed her from behind with a butcher knife. The defendant proceeded to dismember Ms. Quinones’ body, which he put into garbage bags and set outside by the curb for trash pickup. The defendant then stole the victim’s Social Security card, passport, license, and other information related to her Social Security account. Over the next four years, according to the evidence, the defendant stole $68,000 in benefits.

Ms. Quinones’ sister reported her missing on September 10, 2014, after not hearing from her since March 5, 2014.

On August 28, 2018, the defendant entered the 1st Police Precinct in Manhattan and confessed to killing Quinones. The victim’s body was never found.

The District Attorney thanked the Office of the Inspector General for the Social Security Administration, the New York City Police Department Brooklyn North Homicide Squad, KCDA Detective Investigators, and Homicide Paralegal Meghan Brancato for their assistance on the case.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Lana Schlesinger, Deputy Chief of the District Attorney’s Green Zone Trial Bureau, and Senior Assistant District Attorney Gianna Del Grippo, also of the Green Zone, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Leila Rosini, Chief of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau.