Delaware man defiant in hearing where he's sentenced for killing NY car salesman
NEW CITY, N.Y. — Keren Joseph waited five painful years to confront the man who murdered her husband, though the killer from Delaware, Eric Ross, dodged his sentencing by being disruptive in court.
Ross's refusal to stand quietly for his judgment on Thursday didn't deter Judge Larry Schwartz from sentencing the Wilmington man to the maximum of 25 years to life for second-degree murder and 15 years concurrent for second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
And Ross' tantrums didn't stop Keren Joseph from calling Ross an "evil guy" and hoping he dies in prison. She said he took the life of the love of her life and the father of their three children in what was a senseless act of violence on Nov. 24, 2018, at Youbens Joseph's car business on Route 59 in West Nyack.
Ross drove from Delaware to confront Joseph about the poor condition of a used Hyundai Sonata and after words were exchanged, Ross shot Joseph shot twice, once in the back, with a 9 mm Ruger semi-automatic pistol.
"It's been five years since he killed my husband, five years of asking why," Keren Joseph told the court in her victim impact statement, saying she wanted Ross in court, not hiding in the back room. "My tears will never dry. You have caused us so much pain. I will never forgive you."
She described how her two daughters and son will never speak to their father again or share growing up moments. One daughter, 7 at the time, and a niece were at the scene with her when Ross killed her husband.
"I hope you suffer," she said. "I request that Eric never be let out."
Conviction: Delaware man killed West Nyack auto sales owner
Ross' attorney, Igor Litvak told Schwartz that his client maintains he never killed Joseph. Litvak said April Harris testified at a separate hearing that she shot Joseph when she witnessed him choking Ross.
Schwartz dismissed her testimony and refused to let a jury hear her testify as she wanted to declare her Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination. Schwartz's decision states that Harris, as a prosecution witness, first told a grand jury that Ross shot Joseph.
Litvak said Ross will appeal the jury verdict on March 18.
"We really believe this is a miscarriage of justice," Litvak said during a court recess. "That's why he's upset,"
The sentencing on Thursday - scheduled for 11 a.m. but finished at close to 2 p.m. - became protracted just like the prosecution. The first delay came when Ross refused to leave the county jail, leading Schwartz to sign an order forcing his appearance in court.
Ross showed up wearing orange jail garb.
When the sentencing first began Ross interrupted the judge and yelled over him, telling the judge the proceeding was illegal and he wanted no part of the court proceeding.
Schwartz repeatedly asked Ross to listen and be quiet.
Ross responded, at one point: “Make me be quiet” and “You can’t stop me from speaking. Everything you just did is illegal. I am not going to stop."
Schwartz called a recess and jail and court officers removed the shackled Ross. When court resumed Schwartz attempted to inform Ross that he must behave or he would be removed. When Ross said he wouldn't and wanted no part of the sentencing hearing, Schwartz sent him to the courtroom's holding area.
Robert Masters, the special assistant district attorney, told Schwartz that Ross' behavior exemplified why he cannot be rehabilitated and makes clear why he should spend life in prison until he died. Masters said Ross attacked the integrity of the lead prosecutors, Nabeela McLeod and the late Stephen Moore, police and the Joseph family.
He said Keren Joseph confronted her pain and loss with dignity, putting her faith in justice in the judicial system.
Masters said Ross failed to show remorse, except in a taped jail conversation that if he had known Joseph's 7-year-old daughter was at the scene, he would have shown Joseph "mercy."
"To his very core, he's resistant to redemption," Masters told Schwartz.
Litvak asked for the most lenient sentence – 15 years to life – arguing that though Ross denies killing Joseph he has no criminal record.
"Mr. Ross maintains his innocence and he didn't kill anyone," Litvak said. "He's a young guy, Sentencing him to life in prison, I don't think that's right."
Rockland District Attorney Thomas Walsh said, "Mr. Joseph was senselessly killed by the defendant after a verbal dispute about a car. The incident occurred across the street from one of the busiest malls in the Hudson Valley and left residents across Rockland County in shock and anger. The defendant will now serve a lengthy prison term for his actions.”
Ross fought extradition to New York as a fugitive from justice to face a murder charge.
Schwartz called Ross a "coward," as he recounted the circumstances of Ross firing three shots at Joseph in the parking lot of Youbs Auto Sales on Route 59 after arguing about problems with the car. He noted Joseph's daughter and niece were there.
He's shown "zero remorse for his actions," Schwartz said.
Schwartz noted after the shooting that Ross drove away in the white Hyundai Sonata. Joseph died the next day in Nyack Hospital.
Ross has been held without bail since January 2019. The five years served will be deducted from his 25-year sentence. He would become eligible to seek parole in 20 years.
Ross was arrested based on a police description of the Sonata. A police officer in Richland, Pennsylvania, spotted the vehicle parked in a shopping center, Clarkstown police said. Ross was arrested about 12 hours later at a relative's house in nearby Quakertown, Pennsylvania, police said.
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This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Delaware man defiant at sentencing for NY car salesman's death
