Pennsylvania Man Who Murdered Queens Teen Faces Life In Prison

CAMBRIA HEIGHTS, QUEENS -- A Pennsylvania man will serve up to life in prison for the brutal murder of a 14-year-old Queens girl in 2008 after a DNA match linked him to the murder years later.

Rashon Venable, 25, was sentenced on Thursday for viciously slashing the teen to death in her Cambria Heights home nearly a decade ago. He pleaded guilty to the murder in January, closing a case that had gone cold for nearly a decade.

"The defendant has now been sentenced for the cold-blooded and heinous killing of a teenage girl, who should have been safe inside her own home," said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.

Venable, of Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, admitted to stabbing Sabrina Matthews to death in her bedroom on Nov. 9, 2008, when he was just 16 years old. At the time, he lived in Queens Village - roughly two miles from the crime scene - according to the charges.

Livingston Matthews found his slain 14-year-old daughter bleeding from a deep gash across her throat and cuts to her face, neck and arms, according to the charges.

With no signs of forced entry, the case remained a mystery for nearly eight years until DNA collected from Venable in an unrelated Pennsylvania case matched evidence from the Cambria Heights crime scene.

Cops arrested Venable at his Pennsylvania home on Nov. 7, 2016, and extradited him to New York after the NYPD learned of the DNA match.

"This case highlights how important DNA analysis is when it comes to law enforcement," Brown said.

Venable was sentenced in Queens Supreme Court to 19 years to life in prison after he plead guilty to second-degree murder.

"I am hopeful that the family of the victim will find some comfort knowing the person responsible for this horrific crime will be locked away from society," Brown said.

Lead photo via Shutterstock.