Poughkeepsie man pleads in August murder, connection to Marriott killing

Mike Randall, Times Herald-Record
·2 min read

A Poughkeepsie man pleaded guilty Wednesday to murder in the shooting death of another man last summer.

Dutchess County Chief Assistant District Attorney Matthew Weishaupt said Devin A. Taylor, 26, pleaded guilty before County Court Judge Edward T. McLoughlin to second-degree murder, a felony, in connection with the death of Darren J. Villani on Aug. 9, 2022.

Taylor also pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a felony, in the Oct. 2, 2022 shooting at the Courtyard by Marriott in the town of Poughkeepsie, in which a parent of a Marist College student, Paul Kutz, was killed.

Taylor was only charged with criminal possession of a weapon in that case, for having a loaded .223-caliber rifle with no serial number. Another suspect, Roy Johnson, was charged with second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon in that case.

Villani was found lying in the road on Mansion Street next to his car with a gunshot wound to his chest around 1:45 a.m. on Aug. 9, 2022. He was taken to MidHudson Regional Hospital in Poughkeepsie, where he was pronounced dead.

Taylor faces 22 years to life in prison for the murder charge and a concurrent seven-year prison sentence for the weapon possession charge.

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McLoughlin scheduled sentencing for April 19. He ordered that Taylor continue to be held without bail at the Dutchess County Jail, pending sentencing.

Multiple law enforcement agencies were involved in the investigation of the shooting of Villani, including the city and town of Poughkeepsie police, Dutchess County's sheriff's and district attorney's offices, state police, the FBI Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. The investigation is continuing.

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: Guilty plea to August murder, connection to Marriott killing