A homeless man was sentenced to 45 years to life in prison for two separate stabbings that took place in September and October 2023 at a Hempstead apartment building.
On September 28, 2023, at approximately 9:30 p.m., Melbis Hernandez waited for his intended victim, the stepfather of his girlfriend, to return home from work in the back parking lot outside of 45 Jackson Street, an apartment building in Hempstead.
When the 49-year-old victim exited his car, the defendant approached and stabbed him once in the left side of his chest. The victim ran from Hernandez towards a nearby police car, which caused Hernandez to stop giving chase. The victim was taken to NYU Langone Hospital-Long Island and treated for his injuries.
In a separate incident on October 21, 2023, at approximately 2:36 a.m., Hernandez entered the stairwell at 45 Jackson Street and encountered 53-year-old Marlon Rivas Aguilar. At some point in the stairwell, the defendant stabbed Rivas-Aguilar three times in the back.
The victim was discovered approximately three hours later lying in the stairwell doorway and was pronounced deceased at the scene.
After the stabbing, Hernandez left the building and dropped the murder weapon, a kitchen knife, in a nearby sewer, which was later recovered by police. The victim’s DNA was found on the knife.
A Sprite can with the defendant’s DNA was also recovered from a windowsill near Aguilar’s body after the stabbing.
Hernandez was arrested by Nassau County Police Department detectives on November 5, 2023.
Hernandez, 39, was convicted after jury trials before Judge Tammy Robbins of Murder in the Second Degree (a Class A-I felony); Attempted Murder in the Second Degree (a Class B felony); and Attempted Assault in the First Degree (a Class C violent felony).
He was sentenced on August 17 to 45 years to life in prison.
“In less than a month, this defendant committed two horrific stabbings,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly. “First, Melbis Hernandez tried to kill his girlfriend’s stepfather in an act of revenge after the victim kicked him out of his apartment where Hernandez had been staying. The defendant lay in wait for the victim to return home from work before stabbing him in an ambush attack. Three weeks later, Hernandez returned to that very same apartment complex and took Marlon Rivas Aguilar’s life in a random, brutal act of violence. My prosecutors worked tirelessly to bring justice to the victims and their families, and today’s sentence ensures a dangerous criminal is off our streets potentially for the rest of his life.”