Queens man pleads guilty to fatal shooting of Elmont man during botched stickup

A Queens man has pleaded guilty to the fatal shooting of an Elmont man during a botched stickup in 2021 and is facing 20 years in prison, the Queens district attorney’s office announced Tuesday.

The shooter, 21-year-old Edson Giron Figueroa, is expected to be sentenced March 21 by Justice Kenneth Holder, according to a news release from the office. The victim was Albert Serrato, 25.

A message left with Giron Figueroa’s lawyer, Gary Schoer of Syosset, wasn’t immediately returned.

Giron Figueroa pleaded guilty Monday, according to the state court system’s online database.

The shooting happened in Jamaica, Queens, on July 24, 2021, as “the defendant walked to a commercial building on 150th Street near 105th Avenue in Jamaica looking to rob someone at gunpoint,” the release said.

“Giron Figueroa approached the victim, Albert Serrato, from behind and pointed the gun while demanding money. When Serrato turned around, the defendant fired several times and ran away,” the release said.

He pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter; he had been charged with intentional murder, murder committed during certain felonies, criminal possession of a loaded firearm, tampering with physical evidence,

According to a copy of the criminal complaint filed in 2021 and provided Tuesday by the office, Giron Figueroa walked from his home that night seeking to rob a sex worker. He saw “a man dressed in women’s clothing with a beard and a wig” interacting with people in two vehicles, one after another. 

Giron Figueroa told detectives he then pointed the gun at the victim, demanded money and when the victim turned around "he got nervous and didn't realize how tightly he was squeezing the trigger and the gun went off; he only remembered pulling the trigger once but the gun went off multiple times; he didn't take anything because it happened so fast and after he saw the man dressed in women's clothes fall to the ground he ran away,” the complaint says.

He was indicted Aug. 19, the database says.