Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced Wednesday, Nov. 26, that a Bronx man has been sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for second-degree murder and additional charges for fatally shooting, a 19-year-old woman, as well as shooting a man who survived after an argument in a nightclub in the University Heights section of The Bronx. The victims were not the intended targets.

“The defendant put people’s lives at risk when he opened fire inside a nightclub,” Clark said. “His reckless actions caused the death of a 19-year-old woman who was enjoying a night out. No one should have to fear they are risking their lives by enjoying our borough’s nightlife.”

Clark said the defendant, Domingo Berroa, 37, was sentenced Tuesday, Nov. 25, to 20 years to life in prison for second-degree murder, and 10 years in prison plus five years post release supervision for second-degree criminal possession of a weapon by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Margaret Clancy. She said defendant was convicted of the charges after a jury trial and the sentences will run concurrently.

According to the investigation, on Oct. 19, 202, at around 7 a.m., the defendant got into an argument inside the nightclub, Trios, near Jerome Avenue and North Street in University Heights. The court heard that Berroa pulled out a gun and fired one time missing his intended target and striking a man in the arm, as well as 19-year-old female victim, Wendolin Ortiz, killing her. Berroa fled the scene, and purchased a ticket to the Dominican Republic, but was arrested the following day at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

The case was prosecuted by Senior Homicide Counsel Karl Miller of the Bronx DA’s Homicide Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Kirsten Prylinski of Trial Bureau 60, under the supervision of Burim Namani, deputy chief of the Homicide Bureau, and 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 Stalin Crespo, video technician with the Bronx DA’s video unit for his work on the case, as well as NYPD Detective Faton Alickaj of Bronx Homicide for his work on the investigation.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.