Life in Prison for Murderer of Beloved Kingsbridge Doctor

Samuel Saunders, the man responsible for killing beloved Kingsbridge-area pediatrician, Leandro Lozada, was sentenced to 25 years to life yesterday by Westchester County judge.

In early January of 2007, Saunders and an accomplice (who has yet to be tried), kidnapped Lozada, tied him up and then forced him to write a $57,000 check before shooting him twice in the head, execution style.

By all accounts, Dr. Lozada was a great father and boss. He was a pillar in the community who believed in providing health care to the under-privileged families in the northwest Bronx. He could have started his clinic, Hispanic Pediatrics, anywhere, but he chose to put it in a storefront on Kingsbridge Road in a low-income Hispanic community. His unofficial policy was to treat anyone, regardless of their ability to pay.

Despite his murderer's sentencing today, nothing will make up for the loss of Dr. Lozada.

Read our original story about the murder here.

And here's a more recent story about the aftermath of his death.