In the late summer evening of August 30, 2019, a burst of gunfire shattered the peace on a street in Ridgewood, Queens. When police arrived at the scene on 60th Street near Metropolitan Avenue around 10:52 p.m., they found 23-year-old Alexander Pedraja lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to his back. The young man was just across the street from his own home.
Paramedics rushed him to Elmhurst Hospital, but his life could not be saved.
The investigation that followed painted a grim picture of a sudden and violent attack. Detectives learned that two unidentified men were seen fleeing the area immediately after the shots were fired. They escaped in a dark-colored, four-door sedan, disappearing into the city night. Surveillance footage captured images of two individuals on the stoop of a house moments before the shooting, believed to be the suspects.
Over a year after the fatal shooting, the New York Police Department continued to seek the public's help in identifying the two men responsible for Alexander Pedraja's death. They released photographs of the suspects in the hope that someone would recognize them and come forward with information. Despite these efforts, and the circulation of surveillance images, the case grew cold.
As of the latest available information, no arrests have been made in the killing of Alexander Pedraja. The motive behind the shooting remains unknown to the public, and the two male suspects sought in connection with the crime have not been publicly identified or apprehended. The investigation into the death of the young Queens man is ongoing, leaving his family and community still waiting for justice.
