


Prosecutors on Friday revealed the heart-wrenching dying words of an immigrant deliveryman fatally stabbed for his e-bike, saying his family continues to grieve the senseless loss.
In Manhattan Supreme Court, Joseph Sandoval, 24, was sentenced to 23 years-to-life in state prison for the brutal murder of 51-year-old Sala Miah, a Bangladeshi immigrant killed Oct. 1, 2021.
Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Leila Kermani said Sandoval — convicted of second-degree murder — showed “no remorse” for a death that forced Miah’s wife and two children to lose the home Miah’s New York City job allowed them to have.
“He was breaking his back doing Uber Eats deliveries day and night on an e-bike so he could support that family,” Kermani said. “The defendant, on the other hand, had no job and just wanted a bike.”
Sandoval left his Queens home with a butcher knife to “hunt” down someone who had the bike he wanted, according to prosecutors.
Following a long shift of deliveries, Miah – who had been living with several other immigrants at the time – stopped to take what turned out to be his final cigarette break on a bench on the Lower East Side – when Sandoval approached him and demanded his e-bike, prosecutors said.
When Miah refused, Sandoval mercilessly stabbed him in the gut with a 13-inch blade before swiping his e-bike – only to return because the killer had forgotten to steal the bike keys, prosecutors said.
Sandoval slashed Miah in the face until the dying man gave up the keys, they said, noting police body camera footage showed Miah’s intestines spilling out of his body before he drew his final breath.
“His last words were [Miah] saying that he did not want to die, but the defendant made sure he would,” Kermani said.
Meanwhile, Sandoval’s lawyer Patrick Brackley argued the young killer is “extremely remorseful” and accepts his responsibility by pleading guilty.
But Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Michele Rodney branded Sandoval’s actions as “selfish” — and said the killing continues to “haunt this family.”
“The fact that she hopes that her loved one will be coming through the door now, in fact, it’s impacted her life daily,” Rodney said.