A Queens man convicted of murdering a Bangladeshi father of two working round the clock to support his family back home was sentenced to 23 years to life in prison Friday.
Joseph Sandoval, 23, pleaded guilty of second-degree murder in April for Sala Miah’s horrific Oct. 15, 2021, slaying on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
He admitted taking a butcher’s knife when he left home that night intending to steal an e-bike.
Sandoval used the knife to stab Grubhub delivery worker Miah when he encountered his victim sitting on a park bench on Hester St. near Chrystie St. in Sara D. Roosevelt Park.
“Joseph Sandoval robbed and murdered a hardworking deliveryman who was just trying to make a living,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said.
“Mr. Miah was a beloved family man who came to this country for a better life, and his murder devastated his community. Delivery workers are an essential part of our city, and we will not accept any type of violence against them.”
The Miah, 51, had just finished a long shift when Sandoval approached him at around 1 a.m. and demanded the bike, according to court records.
The delivery worker, who lived close by with four roommates, tried to flee for his life, but Sandoval pursued him, slashing him in the face and leaving him to die while he rode the stolen bike back to his apartment, prosecutors said.
Police arrested Sandoval at his home days later according to court records.
Miah’s loved ones, who could not be reached for comment, previously told the Daily News that he had borrowed money to pay for the bike so he could work to support his wife, a 20-year-old daughter, and an 11-year-old son back home.
He immigrated to the U.S. two years before his death, seeking to escape political persecution in his homeland, his relatives previously said.
Miah’s brother-in-law Muhammad Ahsan told The News his distraught relatives in Bangladesh were struggling to make sense of his horrific end.
“They were saying, ‘How’s this happening there, where people think this is the best country in the world?’” Ahsan said in 2021. “I can’t describe right now what they are going through.”
Lawyers for Sandoval could not be reached for comment.
Homicide rates have seen a significant decrease over the last year, according to the latest NYPD data, falling by 33.3% in May compared to the same period of 2022. There has been a 26.5% drop in shootings over the same period.
Grand larceny rates have increased by 17%, and incidents of felony assault have risen by more than 8%.