Joel Laddy was stabbed after a car crash. The other driver has been sentenced in his death

Mike Randall, Middletown Times Herald- Record
·2 min read
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GOSHEN - A Wallkill man was sentenced to 18 years in state prison Tuesday after he was convicted earlier this year of manslaughter in a fatal road rage stabbing that happened last year.

Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler said Horace Duke, 23, of Wallkill, was also sentenced to five years of post-release supervision.

An Orange County Court jury found Duke guilty of first-degree manslaughter and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a misdemeanor, on April 25.

As established at trial, Duke was involved in a crash with the victim, Joel Laddy, 74, also of Wallkill, on Oct. 20, 2022. The crash escalated into a verbal argument near exit 119 on state Route 17 in the town of Wallkill.

During the argument, Duke stabbed Laddy once in the chest with a kitchen knife, puncturing his heart and causing his death, Hoovler said.

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"The evidence at trial proved that this defendant fatally stabbed an unarmed and elderly man after their cars had been involved in a collision," Hoovler said in a statement released by his office. "This defendant was aware that a passenger in his car was speaking to the police on a telephone and there was no reason for him to confront the victim with a knife. The loss of life in this case was both senseless and preventable."

Hoovler had recommended Duke receive the maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.

Duke's attorney, Michael Sussman, plans to appeal his client's conviction and the sentence.

"Mr. Laddy rammed my client's car and then threw the first punch as he was approaching," Sussman said. "My client reacted instinctively using the knife, but there was no intention to kill (Laddy) or cause serious injury."

Mike Randall covers breaking news for the Times Herald-Record, Poughkeepsie Journal and The Journal News/lohud. Reach him at mrandall@th-record.com or on Twitter @mikerandall845.

This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Wallkill man sentenced in 'senseless' road rage killing of 74-year-old