A Long Island man pleaded guilty to murder in the shooting of his ex-girlfriend outside her Suffolk County apartment complex, prosecutors said Friday.
James Quininchetta, 41, of Ridge, was arrested on June 7, 2025, a day after opening fire on 33-year-old Rebecca Roth over what Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney described as an argument over a “minor financial dispute” that quickly escalated into a “senseless act of violence.”
Quininchetta arrived at Roth’s Moriche residence via a rideshare service shortly after midnight on June 6 to collect money he said the victim owed him.
GoFundMe
Shooting victim Rebecca Roth. (GoFundMe)
He then approached the victim, who was inside her parked car, and fired a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun at her seven times after she allegedly refused to pay him, prosecutors said.
A forensic examination revealed she died of multiple gunshot wounds to the torso.
Quininchetta discarded the weapon in a nearby parking lot and returned home using a rideshare service, investigators said. Suffolk County police responded to the scene and recovered the handgun along with a gray fanny pack containing ammunition.
He surrendered voluntarily to authorities in the early hours of June 7, 2025. On Thursday, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, online court records show.
“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 Friday, adding that Quininchetta is expected to be sentenced to 23 years to life in prison.
He is due back in court on March 11, officials said.
