STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Safety precautions are being administered for a Staten Island man detained on Rikers Island amid an ongoing murder case.
The defendant, 48-year-old Phillip Moreno of Eltingville, was indicted in 2020 on charges stemming from a home invasion robbery that resulted in multiple casualties.
During a hearing Wednesday in state Supreme Court, St. George, defense attorney Mark J. Fonte cited ongoing threats against his client.
He requested Moreno be kept away from other inmates in lockdown status, which also restricts phone calls.
Earlier this month, Moreno was accused of stabbing another inmate. Fonte noted after the hearing that the threats started before the stabbing.
Justice Mario F. Mattei signed off on the request, and the case was adjourned to March 4.
Moreno is charged with slaying Alafia Rodriguez, 46, and his fiancee, Ana DeSousa, 33, in what sources described as a horrific scene in their Mariners Harbor home.
DeSousa was seven months pregnant at the time, while the couple’s 2-year-old daughter was upstairs uninjured.
RIKERS ISLAND
It remains unclear what sparked the Feb. 6 stabbing incident at Rikers Island.
“Vicious, violent attacks on individuals in custody will not be tolerated,” said Department of Correction Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie at the time. “We will seek attempted murder charges for this senseless act. No one in our jails deserves to be a victim of violence.”
The jail complex meanwhile could become subject to federal takeover, amid concerns for several years over inmate deaths and safety issues.
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