Nassau County District Attorney: Hewlett Man Convicted In Fatal 2020 Hempstead Stabbing

Freeport NY

14 May, 2022

6:11 AM

Description

Press release from the Nassau County District Attorney: May 13, 2022 Keith Pooler stabbed 49-year-old Andre Garry in the heart on a street corner, killing him MINEOLA, N.Y. – Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced the conviction of a Hewlett man on murder charges for stabbing a man in the heart and killing him in Hempstead in June 2020. Keith Pooler, 56, was convicted today after a jury trial before Judge Howard Sturim, of Murder in the Second Degree (an A-I felony); and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree (a D felony). The trial began on May 5, 2022. The jury deliberated for less than a day before delivering their verdict. The defendant is due back in court on July 28, 2022, where he faces a potential maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison. "Keith Pooler escalated a petty dispute into a deadly encounter, which ended with the defendant plunging a knife into Andre Garry's chest," said DA Donnelly. "We are pleased with the jury's verdict, and that the defendant will be held accountable for his decision to take a life that day." District Attorney Donnelly said, according to the charges, on June 28, 2020, at approximately 9:00 p.m. on the corner of Terrace and Fulton Avenues, the defendant had a verbal altercation with 49-year-old Andre Garry. As the argument continued, the defendant pulled out an approximately 5-inch steak knife and stabbed Garry in the heart. The victim collapsed and Pooler fled the scene. Garry was transported to NYU Langone Hospital Long Island (Winthrop) where he was pronounced deceased. The murder weapon was recovered nearby by police less than twenty minutes after the incident. Pooler was arrested in Hewlett by detectives of the Nassau County Police Department's Homicide Squad on July 11, 2020. The case is being prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel Michelle Lewisohn of the Homicide Bureau. The defendant is represented by Christopher Graziano, Esq. This press release was produced by the Nassau County District Attorney. The views expressed here are the author's own.