Far Rockaway Man Indicted on First-Degree Murder Charges in Killing of Mother and Sister

By Fitzhugh Mallory, Crime Correspondent

Three months after a July morning in Far Rockaway that ended with two women dead, a house on fire and a man shot by the police, Queens prosecutors have secured a first-degree murder indictment.

Kegan Thomas, 33, was arraigned on Friday, Oct. 23, in State Supreme Court in Queens on a 12-count indictment, District Attorney Melinda Katz announced. He is charged with three counts of murder in the first degree, one count of attempted murder in the first degree, two counts of murder in the second degree, arson in the second degree, three counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree and two counts of aggravated cruelty to animals.

Justice Ushir Pandit-Durant ordered him to return to court on Jan. 15, 2027. QNS reported that he was remanded without bail. If convicted of first-degree murder, he faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.

An indictment is an accusation. Mr. Thomas is presumed innocent unless and until he is proven guilty, and he has not yet had the opportunity to answer the charges at trial. The name of his defense lawyer was not included in the district attorney’s announcement or in the news reports we reviewed.

What prosecutors allege

According to the district attorney’s office, at about 11:55 a.m. on July 25, Mr. Thomas shot his mother, Clemer Ponce, 66, and his sister, Selena Ponce, 29, with a shotgun inside a bedroom of the family’s first-floor apartment at 25-33 Ocean Crest Boulevard in Far Rockaway. Both women died.

When officers arrived in response to a report of shots fired, prosecutors said, Mr. Thomas was outside the house, without a tactical vest or a gun, and went back inside as the police approached. Officers banged on the door and ordered him to come out. Then, according to the release, an explosion erupted inside the home, and smoke and flames poured out.

Seconds later, prosecutors said, Mr. Thomas came out wearing a black hat and a tactical vest and carrying a shotgun that he is accused of pointing toward the officers. Multiple officers shouted at him to put his hands up. When he did not comply, officers fired, striking him.

A fire marshal from the Fire Department later determined that the fire had been deliberately set, according to the release. Two family pets, a pit bull-boxer mix and a kitten, died of smoke inhalation, a necropsy found. The police recovered two switchblade knives from Mr. Thomas.

“As alleged, the defendant killed his mother and sister in cold blood by shooting them to death,” Ms. Katz said in a statement. “This horrifying act of violence destroyed a family and left a community in shock. The defendant has been charged with first-degree murder and now faces life in prison if he is convicted.”

What the police said in July

In the days after the shooting, the police gave an account of how the call began. CBS New York reported that Mr. Thomas’s wife called 911 and that, according to the police, she had heard him saying, “Kill. Kill them. Kill them.” Officers from the 101st Precinct and the Emergency Service Unit responded. The police said at the time that Mr. Thomas was in critical but stable condition after being shot.

The NYPD also said that Mr. Thomas had no criminal record and no prior mental health-related interactions with the department, though his wife told officers that he had a history of mental health problems, CBS reported. Those statements were made in the early stages of the investigation, and they have not been tested in court.

There is one discrepancy between the early reports and the indictment announcement. In July, the police gave the victims’ ages as 56 and 28. The district attorney’s release lists them as 66 and 29. The City Politic is using the prosecutors’ figures.

Why first-degree murder

In New York, murder in the first degree is reserved for a narrow set of circumstances listed in the Penal Law, among them the intentional killing of more than one person in the same criminal transaction and killings connected to attacks on police officers. Most murder cases in the state are charged as second-degree murder. The indictment also includes an attempted first-degree murder count, a charge that in New York can rest on an alleged attempt to kill a police officer performing official duties; the release does not specify the theory, and prosecutors will have to prove each element.

The first-degree counts are what expose Mr. Thomas to a sentence of life without parole, the most severe penalty available in New York, which does not have the death penalty.

The officers’ shooting

The release does not address any review of the officers’ decision to fire. Under state law, the attorney general’s Office of Special Investigation examines deaths caused by police officers, but Mr. Thomas survived. Police shootings in New York City are also reviewed internally by the NYPD’s Force Investigation Division.

The prosecutors

Senior Assistant District Attorney Gregory Lasak of the Homicide Bureau is prosecuting the case with Assistant District Attorney Jennie Evangelista.

Mr. Thomas is due back in court on Jan. 15.

Featured image: Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, November 2025. Photo by Oleg Yunakov via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.