NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A Manhattan man was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison after he was convicted for the 1990 murder of his longtime acquaintance, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Thursday.
Kevin Smith 67, of Yorkville, was found guilty in November for killing a long-time acquaintance with a gunshot to the back of the head while seated in the back seat of a vehicle in February 1990, prosecutors said.
Smith was previously tried and convicted but that verdict was overturned on appeal in March 2023.
According to the charges, on Feb. 8, 1990, Frank Sestak, 45, was driving a Dodge station wagon while Smith sat in the backseat directly behind him and a third man, David Hammerstone, was seated in the front passenger seat.
Sestak pulled off the Grand Central Parkway and parked on the westbound shoulder near 68th Avenue in Forest Hills when Smith pulled out a gun and shot him in the back of the head, officials said.
Smith then jumped out of the vehicle, stood at the front driver’s side door and fired several more shots into the victim’s body.
Hammerstone pulled out another gun and also shot the victim, police said. Sestak was struck several times, including one shot in his skull, and died from those injuries.
In October 2016, Hammerstone pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the first degree and was sentenced to four to 12 years in prison.
Smith was convicted of murder in November 2016 and an appellate court overturned that conviction and ordered a new trial primarily due to the introduction of evidence that Smith and Hammerstone committed a bank robbery after the murder.
Presenting this evidence was found to be an error by the court, according to DA Katz.
"For more than 25 years, justice eluded the family of the victim. And after a guilty verdict in 2016, an appeal’s court reversed in 2023," DA Katz said. "A jury has spoken again and the defendant has been held to account for this brutal killing. Today, a judge sentenced the defendant to the maximum term of incarceration. I hope this gives the slain man’s family both relief and finally closure."