FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, September 29, 2026
Manhattan Man Who Killed Ex-Girlfriend’s New Boyfriend After
Breaking into Her Brooklyn Home Sentenced to Life in Prison
Defendant Stabbed Victim Seven Times, Dragged Him Out to Street to Die
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that an East Harlem man has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for breaking into the home of his former girlfriend, with whom he shared a child, punching her in the face and body, and fatally stabbing her new boyfriend.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This was a chilling and calculated attack on an innocent man and woman by a defendant with a long history of domestic abuse. Not only did he commit a brutal murder, but he also shattered the sanctity and safety of a family’s home. I hope that today’s sentence brings some solace to James Santiago’s relatives, including his devastated mother, who lost her son in such a violent and cruel manner.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Michael Israel, 39, of East Harlem, New York. He was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Michael Kitsis to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The defendant was convicted of first-degree murder, first-degree burglary, third-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child on June 26, 2026, following a jury trial.
The District Attorney said that, according to the evidence, on January 12, 2020, at approximately 2:20 a.m., the defendant broke into the Coney Island residence of his former girlfriend, a 37-year-old woman, where she was in bed sleeping with her new boyfriend, James Santiago, 42. The defendant punched the woman several times, causing two black eyes and bruising to her back and shoulder, and stabbed the now deceased victim seven times about his body.
The defendant then dragged the victim’s bloodied body, naked except for a T-shirt, out of the house and into the street, where he whispered something in the victim’s ear, and left him to die, according to the evidence.
Testimony at trial showed that the defendant had long been a domestic violence abuser of his former girlfriend and that in the hours leading up to the murder had sent her numerous threatening text messages and made a Facetime call in which he became jealous and told the woman he was going to come to her home and assault her.
The defendant was arrested on January 15, 2020, following an investigation.
The District Attorney thanked New York City Police Detective Darnell Forrester and Detective James Hemmer for their work on the case, as well as Assistant District Attorney Rachel Singer, Chief of the Forensic Science Unit, DNA Specialist Susan Horan, also of the Forensic Science Unit, KCDA Detective Investigators, Christina Stewart and Sourov Talukder of the KCDA Digital Evidence Lab, and Homicide Paralegal Julia Holman for their assistance.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Chelsea Toder, of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Ashley Infante, of the District Attorney’s Blue Zone Trial Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Leila Rosini, Homicide Bureau Chief.
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