A New York man with a violent past, including killing his grandmother at age 14, has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for strangling his girlfriend.
Waheed Foster, 44, received the sentence after pleading guilty to first-degree manslaughter in the death of Jessica Miller, 41, and third-degree assault... Continue reading here ▶
His sentence will run consecutively with a 22-year sentence for a separate unprovoked attack on a subway commuter weeks after Miller’s body was discovered.
The incident involving Miller happened on August 4, 2022, when she visited Foster at a mental health facility in the Bronx. Prosecutors say the two entered the facility together, and Foster signed in before going to his room with Miller.
Later that evening, Foster left and didn’t return. Two days later, an employee checking his room found Miller’s body.
Before Miller’s death was officially ruled a homicide, Foster was arrested for a violent attack on commuter Elizabeth Gomes at the Howard Beach-JFK Airport subway station in Queens.
On her way to work, Gomes was punched and kicked in the head in an unprovoked assault, leaving her with severe injuries, including the loss of her right eye.
In court, Gomes shared the ongoing trauma from the attack, saying, “Every time I look in the mirror, I remember.” She also admitted she still feels afraid when riding the subway.
During a jailhouse interview, Foster addressed the attack, saying, “I wasn’t trying to kill her. I was just trying to give a real good whooping.” He added that if he had stomped on her face, she wouldn’t have survived.
At Foster’s sentencing for the subway assault, Queens Supreme Court Judge Ira Margulis criticized the system, saying Foster should have been in a state mental hospital. “Time after time, when he was released and taken off his medication, he committed more crimes,” the judge said.
Foster’s criminal history is extensive. In 1995, at the age of 14, he killed his 82-year-old foster grandmother. Later, he stabbed his sister with a screwdriver. In 2010, he attacked workers at a psychiatric outpatient center, stabbing one employee and injuring two others after being diagnosed with schizophrenia and antisocial personality disorder.
Foster’s violent past and his most recent crimes have reignited discussions about mental health treatment and public safety.
