A Hempstead man was sentenced to 24 years to life in prison after he was found guilty by a jury of robbery and murder charges last October in the shooting death of a man sleeping in his car.
On November 25, 2019, at approximately 2:19 a.m., Kadeem Lewis and a co-defendant were walking around Hempstead looking for a house to burglarize. The two defendants encountered 33-year-old Jose Sanchez-Velasquez sleeping in the front seat of his vehicle with the engine running and the lights on.
Lewis approached the driver’s side of the vehicle while his co-defendant opened the front passenger-side door and removed several cell phones. Lewis’ co-defendant then removed Sanchez-Velasquez from his vehicle. The victim screamed, and Lewis fired a single fatal gunshot into Sanchez-Velasquez’s chest. Lewis and his co-defendant then fled the scene. He dropped two of the cell phones taken from the victim in a neighboring backyard.
Approximately one month later, on December 21, 2019, Lewis was involved in an incident at a residence on Alan Street in Hempstead wearing a ski mask. During the incident, Lewis fled the scene, dropping his cell phone inside the residence. Blocks away from the scene, police found a ski mask and a wallet that was taken from the Alan Street home.
DNA samples taken from the ski mask and the cell phones recovered near the scene of the murder were both a match to Lewis.
Lewis, 31, was arrested on February 6, 2020, by members of the Nassau County Police Department. He was convicted by a jury after a trial before Judge Robert Bogle on October 31, 2024, of second-degree murder (a ClassA-I felony), first-degree robbery (a Class B violent felony), and second-degree robbery (a Class C violent felony). On January 23, 2025, he was sentenced to 24 years to life in prison.
“The final moments of Jose Sanchez-Velasquez’s life were filled with shock and terror when Kadeem Lewis and a co-defendant roused him from sleep inside his car and robbed him. When Jose tried to scream for help, he was tragically killed by a single gunshot to the chest,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly. “Today’s life sentence holds Kadeem Lewis accountable for his callousness and for taking an innocent man’s life. Our thoughts remain with Jose’s loved ones at this time, and we hope that this most severe punishment provides them with the justice they deserve for this unspeakable crime.”