Hudson Valley Man Jailed For Killing Teen Near High School
A Hudson Valley man who admitted he gunned down a local teen near a popular high school hangout was sentenced.
In Orange County Court, 23-year-old Tyler Castro of Newburgh was sentenced to 15 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision for fatally shooting 17-year-old Keyshan Gayle of Newburgh.
“I extend my deepest condolences to the family that lost this seventeen year old man to senseless street violence,” Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler said in a press release. “No state prison sentence can ever repair the damage that is done to a family and a community in a case like this.”
On August 30, 2016, Gayle was hit with a single bullet in the City of Newburgh, as he stood near a deli that is a very popular hangout spot for Newburgh Free Academy students.
Gayle was pronounced dead shortly after. The teen graduated high school just months before the fatal shooting and was preparing to start college.
In court, Castro admitted that he was outside of a deli near the intersection of Fullerton Avenue and Third Street in the City of Newburgh and fired at a man that he hoped to seriously injure.
Castro confessed that instead of hitting his intended target, he shot and killed Gayle, who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
According to the Orange County District Attorney’s office, a video surveillance system inside the deli captured images of the victim being shot, but not of the shooter. No eye-witnesses to the shooting initially came forward and street cameras in the area were not operable at the time.
In Oct. of 2016, Castro was charged with second-degree murder, in connection with Gayle’s death. Police did not say how their investigation led them to the arrest.
After extensive consultation with the victim’s family, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office allowed Castro to plead guilty to manslaughter, with the understanding that he would be sentenced to 15 years in prison.
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