Killer apologizes for fatal shooting in Yonkers, is sentenced to 15 years
A man who fatally shot an associate in Yonkers three years ago apologized in court Thursday and said he wished he had done more to de-escalate the trouble they were having with each other.
"It is never OK for someone to lose their life at such a young age and being a part of this tragedy has deeply affected me," Jerome Wilson told acting state Supreme Court Justice James McCarty moments before he was sentenced to 15 years in state prison for the killing of Chazz Mitchell.
Wilson shot Mitchell, 24, one time in the abdomen after a brief scuffle on Oak Street on Aug. 25, 2020. Mitchell died a short time later at St. Joseph's Medical Center, the same hospital he had been at earlier in the day to have stitches removed from a stabbing that month.
Authorities said video showed Wilson had been present weeks earlier when Mitchell was stabbed but no charges were ever brought in that incident.
Wilson was a suspect in the shooting from the outset but not arrested until two years later when he was found in North Carolina.
He was originally charged with second-degree murder but was allowed to plead guilty in May to first-degree manslaughter and McCarty promised the 15-year prison term.
Yonkers shooting: Jerome Wilson pleads guilty to manslaughter in shooting of Chazz Mitchell
Wilson, 28, said the only positive thing to come from Mitchell's death was his own relationship to God. He said he had tried numerous times to de-escalate what was going on with Mitchell but should have tried harder.
"I understand the feelings and emotions Chazz was going through at the time and I should have taken that more into consideration," he said, reading from a statement he had written out.
None of Mitchell's relatives or friends were in court for the sentencing but Wilson offered them his condolences and said he hopes they can forgive him.
Without offering specifics, he said he forgave Mitchell for his actions leading up to the shooting.
"And as he's looking down I pray that he forgives me as well," Wilson said.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Killer apologizes at sentencing for fatally shooting man in Yonkers
