Three of the four people who broke into a Flanders home in January 2013 and shot and killed 21-year-old Demitri Hampton were sentenced to time in a state prison on November 1.All three co-defendants—Danielle Hall, 37, of Calverton; Michael Parrish, 28, of Coram; and Corry Wallace, 48, of Calverton—pleaded guilty to felony burglary charges in September, instead of original charges that also included a count of felony second-degree murder. They were allowed to plead to the lesser charge after the Suffolk County district attorney’s office failed to turn over evidence to defense attorneys, jeopardizing the case.Ms. Hall was sentenced to serve a maximum of three years in prison along with three years of probation. Mr. Parrish was sentenced to up to five years of prison, and Mr. Wallace was sentenced to up to eight years. Both men were also sentenced to up to five years of probation upon their release.All three were sentenced by State Supreme Court Justice John B. Collins, who presided over all four trials in Criminal Court in Riverside.The fourth suspect, Messiah Booker, faced a second-degree murder charge for his involvement in the home invasion that took place in the early morning hours of January 27, 2013, at a Priscilla Avenue home. But that charge was dropped earlier this year after Brendan Ahern, Mr. Booker’s attorney, raised red flags about a significant amount of evidence—including confessions by other people who claimed to be the shooter—never turned over by the prosecution.Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Glenn Kurtzrock’s failure to turn over the evidence resulted in a mistrial, forcing the plea deal for Mr. Booker. As part of that deal, Mr. Booker pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree attempted burglary, a felony. He was sentenced in June, and is expected to serve five years in prison and five years of probation, compared to the 25 years to life he was facing with the original charge.Immediately following the mishap, Mr. Kurtzrock agreed to resign from his position.Robert Clifford, a spokesman for Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota, called Mr. Kurtzrock’s conduct “inexcusable” and noted that it resulted in “further pain to the family of Demitri Hampton … we failed, with a devastating result.”After Mr. Kurtzrock resigned, Janet M. Albertson of the Suffolk County district attorney’s Homicide Bureau told Justice Collins that, based on that day’s revelations, the prosecution agreed to dismiss the murder charge as it would be unable to prove Mr. Booker’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. As a result of the mistrial, the other three defendants also pleaded guilty to first-degree burglary, a felony, instead of second-degree murder charges.
Greg Wehner on Nov 2, 2017