Four Queens men indicted in Hewlett native’s death

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Four Queens men were indicted on murder charges and other crimes for the beating death of Nazareth Claure, 31, a one-time Hewlett resident who was killed on April 11, and three days later her remains were found in the trunk of a car during a police traffic stop in Inwood. 

Allan Lopez, 22, aka Sergio, Jose Sarmiento, 21, Rigeo Yohairo, 20,  and  Anander Henriquez, 28, Claure’s boyfriend, all of Far Rockaway, were arraigned on May 11 before Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Aloise on a seven-count indictment that charged them with second-degree murder and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

Lopez, Sarmiento and Yohairo are also charged with concealment of a human corpse and tampering with physical evidence. Henriquez is also charged with aggravated criminal contempt. Lopez is also charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. The next court for all four men is July 27. If convicted all face up to 25 years-to-life in prison.

“This was a cruel, ruthless killing,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz stated in a news release. “As alleged, the defendants attacked the victim and beat her to death with a machete and a (baseball) bat. A young boy is now without his mother and a community is grieving. The accused are in custody and will face justice in our legal system.”

On April 11, between 9 and 11 p.m., Lopez, Sarmiento, Henriquez and Yohairo allegedly attacked Claure, officials said. Lopez, Sarmiento and Yohairo were all riding in a vehicle when police stopped them on the Nassau Expressway at Bayview Avenue in Inwood and found Claure’s remains around 1:40 a.m. on April 11.

“This brutal act of violence against an innocent woman is yet another reminder of the depraved indifference to human life that continues the be the calling card of various street gangs in NY,” Peter Fitzhugh, the special agent in charge of the New York field office of Homeland Security Investigations, state in the release. “HSI and our law enforcement partners refuse to let these mobs’ ruthlessness intimidate our communities and we remain steadfast in our mission to eliminate the threat they pose to public safety.”