FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, May 1, 2025
Staten Island Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Shooting
Pregnant Woman on Brooklyn-Queens Expressway
Defendant Opened Fire from Moving Vehicle in Broad Daylight, Striking Victim in the Head
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a Staten Island man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison following his guilty plea to attempted murder for firing multiple shots at a taxi traveling along the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, striking a pregnant woman riding in the backseat in the head.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This was a terrifying and calculated act of violence carried out in the middle of the day on one of the city’s busiest highways. The defendant showed a complete disregard for human life when he opened fire on a moving vehicle, striking a young pregnant woman and endangering countless others. We will continue to pursue justice for victims and hold accountable those who threaten the safety of our communities.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Mark Munoz, 37, of Staten Island. He was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Jane Tully to 15 years in prison. The defendant pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted murder on March 3, 2025.
The District Attorney said that, according to the evidence, on June 26, 2023, at approximately 1:30 p.m., the victims, a 21-year-old woman and 30-year-old man, were picked up by a taxi at the corner of 58th Street and Third Avenue in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The defendant, who had a prior dispute with the male victim earlier that day, followed the cab in a dark blue Jeep onto the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.
While driving alongside the taxi, the defendant fired multiple shots into the backseat, striking the woman, who was two months pregnant, in the head. Another bullet lodged in the door where the male victim was seated.
The taxi driver immediately drove to NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn, where doctors in the trauma unit were able to save both the woman and her unborn child.
The NYPD, working in coordination with the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, determined that after the shooting, the defendant fled to Staten Island, where he spent several hours at a car wash. He was arrested on Staten Island on May 24, 2024.
The Brooklyn District Attorney thanked Intelligence Analyst Anna Kharitanova and Intelligence Analyst Kelly Crawford, of the District Attorney’s Digital Evidence Lab, working under the supervision of Chief Analyst Alexandra Aber and Unit Chief Jingu Chong, for their assistance on the case.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Robert Andrea and Senior Assistant District Attorney Natalie Riether, of the District Attorney’s Blue Zone Trial Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Douglas Marquez, Deputy Bureau Chief, and the overall supervision of Assistant District Attorney Kin Ng, Bureau Chief.
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