Crime & Safety

Two Sentenced in Fatal Peekskill Stabbing

The two men charged in connection with the fatal November 2012 stabbing outside a Peekskill barbershop are set to serve prison time, the Westchester County district attorney's office said.

Sunil Williams, a 30-year-old Bronx resident, was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in state prison, while Maurice Walker, a 34-year-old Mount Vernon resident, was sentenced to two, following the death of 23-year-old Alexander Rochester. He was killed in the vicinity of Platinum barbershop, at 629 South Street.

In October 2013 Williams pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter, a felony, while Walker pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, felonies. The pair was indicted last January.

Rochester, who had moved to the area recently, was stabbed at about 10:30 a.m. Nov. 23, 2012. He was involved in a dispute with Walker, the shop's owner, and Williams, an employee at the shop, jumped in, officials said.

The victim sustained multiple stab wounds to the chest. First-responders rushed him to Hudson Valley Hospital Center in Cortlandt Manor, where he was pronounced dead.

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Police investigation led to Williams' arrest that day. Walker was arrested after cops reviewed surveillance video.

Assistant District Attorney Christine O’Connor and Assistant District Attorney Shameika Mathurin of the Superior Court Trial Division prosecuted the case.

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Editor's note: This post was originally published Jan. 16.


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