James Quininchetta of Ridge pleaded guilty to killing his former girlfriend, Rebecca Roth, outside her Moriches apartment complex, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney said.
Quininchetta, 41, admitted in court that he fatally shot Roth, 33, shortly after midnight on June 6, 2025, during what prosecutors described as an attempt to collect money over a perceived financial debt.
According to court documents and Quininchetta’s statements during his guilty plea, he went to Roth’s apartment complex at about 12:30 a.m. and fired a .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun seven times while Roth was sitting inside her parked vehicle. A forensic examination determined she suffered multiple gunshot wounds to her torso and died at the scene.
Police responding to the shooting recovered the handgun in a nearby parking lot, along with spent shell casings and ammunition packaging. A K-9 unit also located a fanny pack containing ammunition in a wooded area, authorities said.
Quininchetta was arrested the following day, June 7, 2025.
On Jan. 29, Quininchetta pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon before Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Timothy P. Mazzei.
He is expected to be sentenced March 11 to 23 years to life in prison, the district attorney’s office said. Quininchetta is represented by attorney George Duncan.
“This defendant chose to respond to a perceived financial dispute with irreversible brutality, and now he will be held accountable for his crime,” Tierney said. “Our thoughts remain with Rebecca Roth’s loved ones who continue to live with the pain of her absence.”
Assistant District Attorney Eric S. Aboulafia of the Homicide Bureau is prosecuting the case. The investigation was conducted by Suffolk County Police Department homicide detectives Matthew Sagistano, James Hughes, and Michael Ronca of the Suffolk County Police Department’s Homicide Squad.