MANHATTAN — A grand jury in Staten Island has declined to indict Redinel Dervishaj with the stabbing death of Antonio Lacertosa, who was killed duyring a fight at a restaurant during his engagement party.
The announcement comes after more than three weeks of testimony were presented to the grand jury, which was tasked with determining if 35-year-old Dervishaj should be charged with murder.
“My thoughts and prayers go out to Antonio Lacertosa’s family and to his fiancée as they try to cope with the pain of their loss,” District Attorney Daniel M. Donovan Jr. said in a statement. “His death was a tragic and senseless end to a night that began as a celebration of a young couple’s new life together.”
Lacertosa, 27, was stabbed in the torso during his engagement party at a restaurant in the Annadale section of Staten Island on March 17.
Cops found him outside the Espana restaurant on Annadale Road shortly after 2 a.m., and he was sent to Staten Island University South, where he was pronounced dead.
