Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced on March 9 that a Manhattan man has been charged with kidnapping, murder and other charges for shooting two people in a car, setting it on fire, and incinerating them on Shore Road in Pelham Split Rock Course in Pelham Bay Park in the East Bronx in May 2022, as reported.

 

Clark said, “The deaths of these two young people allegedly culminated a chain of violent events in Manhattan and Queens. A defendant has been brought to justice, and we will hold accountable any others involved in this horrific crime. I hope this indictment brings some solace to the victims’ parents; they suffer the loss of their children who were burned beyond recognition.”

 

Clark said the defendant, Jahmel Sanders, 30, of Baruch Drive, Manhattan, is charged with five counts of first-degree murder, six counts of second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree manslaughter, two counts of first-degree arson, two counts of second-degree arson, two counts of third-degree arson, two counts of first-degree kidnapping, and two counts of second-degree kidnapping.

 

He was also charged with two counts of first-degree criminal use of a firearm, three counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, two counts of first-degree robbery, third-degree grand larceny and fourth-degree grand larceny. Sanders was arraigned on March 9 before Bronx Supreme Court Justice George Villegas. He was remanded, and is due back in court on June 21, 2023.

 

According to the investigation, on May 16, 2022, Sanders and others allegedly kidnapped Nikki Huang, 22, and Jesse Parrilla, 22, transported them to Shore Road near Pelham Bay Park, and shot them execution-style. They later allegedly set fire to the car while the victims were inside it. Huang suffered bullet wounds to her head and neck and Parilla suffered bullet wounds to his head and chest. Their bodies were burned almost to ash, the court heard.

 

According to the investigation, on May 15, 2022, at 9.30 p.m., Huang had told friends who are alleged gang members that she had had her purse stolen in Manhattan, and two hours later, a man was fatally shot in Manhattan.

 

At approximately 1:20 a.m. on May 16, 2022, Parrilla, driving his mother’s Honda Accord, dropped Huang off near her home on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Sanders’ accomplices allegedly approached Parrilla, moved him to another vehicle and allegedly stole the Accord. About 20 minutes later, Huang was lured to come outside her building and was kidnapped in the same Honda Accord.

 

Shortly afterwards, Sanders, along with others, were involved in a shooting in Queens with the victims present. They then travelled to The Bronx. At around 4.16 a.m. Parilla’s mother’s Accord was discovered in flames near 870 Shore Road.

 

As reported, on July 28, 2022, police had issued an appeal to help locate two people sought for questioning in connection to the incident. The first was Sanders, described as 5 feet, 7 inches tall and weighing 150 pounds. The second was Steven Santiago, 34, described as 6 feet, 1 inch tall and weighing 220 pounds.

 

Surveillance photos of both individuals as they appeared prior to the incident (left side of image) as well as file photos of the two (right side of image) are attached.

 

On Dec. 22, 2022, a combined reward in the amount of $10,000 was offered for information regarding the incident, with up to $3,500 payable by CrimeStoppers upon arrest and indictment, and $6,500 payable by the NYPD upon arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for the incident.

 

Sanders’ case is being prosecuted by assistant district attorney, Burim Namani, senior counsel in the Homicide Bureau, under the supervision of Christine Scaccia, chief of the homicide bureau, and under the overall supervision of James Brennan, deputy chief of the Trial Division, and Theresa Gottlieb, chief of the Trial Division.

Clark thanked NYPD Detectives Sheldon Smith of Bronx Homicide, Pedro Gomez of the Violent Felony Squad, and John Soto of the 45th Precinct for their work on the case.

 

A person arrested and charged with a crime is deemed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.