(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that James Quininchetta, 41, of Ridge, was sentenced to 23 years to life in prison after pleading guilty in January to Murder in the Second Degree and other related charges, for fatally shooting his former girlfriend Rebecca Roth, 33, of Moriches, due to a perceived financial debt.
“This defendant made a calculated decision to take another person’s life in a horrific act of violence,” said District Attorney Tierney. “This sentence will not bring back Ms. Roth, but hopefully it will give her family some small comfort.”
According to court documents and the defendant’s admissions during his guilty plea allocution, on June 6, 2025, at approximately 12:30 a.m., Quininchetta went to the victim’s apartment complex in Moriches to attempt to collect money from the victim. Quininchetta fired a .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun seven times at the victim while she was inside her parked vehicle, before he fled the scene. A forensic examination revealed the victim had sustained multiple gunshot wounds to her torso causing her death.
Members of the Suffolk County Police Department recovered the handgun in a nearby parking lot, as well as ammunition packaging and spent shell casings. A K-9 unit also located a fanny pack containing ammunition in a wooded area. Quininchetta was arrested the next day, June 7, 2025.
On January 29, 2026, Quininchetta pleaded guilty to one count of Murder in the Second Degree, a Class A felony, and two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, Class C felonies, before Supreme Court Justice Timothy P. Mazzei.
On March 11, 2026, Quininchetta was sentenced to 23 years to life in prison. He was represented by George Duncan, Esq.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Eric S. Aboulafia of the Homicide Bureau, and the investigation was conducted by Detectives Matthew Sagistano, James Hughes, and Michael Ronca of the Suffolk County Police Department’s Homicide Squad.
