Mar. 22, 2023 By Julia Moro
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz on March 22 announced that a Far Rockaway man was sentenced to 17 years in prison for the fatal 2018 shooting of a 15-year-old boy who was coming off a city bus in the neighborhood.
According to the charges, around 4 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018, 26-year-old Atekel Donaldson, of Bay 32nd Street, approached 15-year-old Youssef Soliman outside of 46-15 Beach Channel Dr. in Far Rockaway.
Soliman was getting off the bus when Donaldson shot him twice in the hand and torso, killing him, the charges state.
“A teenager’s life was senselessly cut short by gun violence, which continues to steal family, friends and loved ones from our communities,” Katz said in a statement Wednesday. “We cannot relent until we end the plague of illegal guns on our streets.”
Donaldson previously pleaded guilty in December to manslaughter in the first degree, according to the DA’s office.
Justice Kenneth Holder sentenced him to 17 years in prison, followed by five years of post-release supervision.