Jennifer Shafiq Ventrelli (November 9, 1986 - December 4, 1990) was a girl found buried along the Long Island Expressway.
She was identified in March 2006. Her mother was found guilty of her murder.
Case[]
On April 27, 1996, the skeletal remains of a young girl were found by a hiker in a shallow grave along the Long Island Expressway in Manorville, New York.
Identification[]
In May 2005, police responded to a domestic disturbance in Sacramento, California. The couple, Khairual Abdul and Parmjit Singh had been estranged and were known to have disputes. Police arrested Singh for charges related to domestic disturbance; while in custody, Singh told officers Abdul had murdered their daughter, Jennifer. In March 2006, after a DNA test from her parents, the remains were identified as Jennifer's. The couple were later taken into custody and extradited to Long Island.
Jennifer had been taken out of Abdul and Singh's custody when she was a month old and placed into foster care, taking the last name of her foster mother. Ventrelli was placed back in the custody of her biological parents, Abdul and Singh, three years later.
Ventrelli suffered physical abuse and torture, likely committed by Abdul, during her lifetime. According to police, on December 4, 1990, Abdul had beaten, shaken, and slammed Ventrelli onto the floor of their home in Hollis, Queens, New York, and died of her injuries. Singh buried her body along the Long Island Expressway. A month later, Abdul called Ventrelli's former foster mother, telling her that she, Abdul, and Singh moved to California. Abdul and Singh later moved to Sacramento in 2000 and separated shortly after.
Abdul was charged with murder, where she was found guilty in December 2007 and was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. In August 2010, Abdul's conviction was thrown out due to the judge potentially misleading jurors during deliberations, and she was given a new trial. In June 2011, Abdul was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 4-and-1/3 to 13 years in prison. Singh was charged with hindering prosecution and for disposing of Ventrelli's body and pleaded guilty in January 2008. He was sentenced to 2-and‐1/3 to 7 years in prison. Singh's attorney stated that he had also suffered abuse by Abdul.
Gallery[]
Sources[]
- Jennifer Ventrelli at Find a Grave
- News 12
- New York Times
- New York Daily News
- Newsday