TOWN OF POUGHKEEPSIE – Two men have been arrested for the Sunday morning murder of a man at a Route 9 hotel in the Town of Poughkeepsie. Both of the men arrested are convicted felons.
The account of the shooting and long-term police activity at the Courtyard by Marriott hotel on South Road (Route 9) in Poughkeepsie can be found here.
According to Police Chief Joe Cavaliere, 35-year-old parolee Roy Johnson Jr., allegedly homeless, has been charged with the felonies of murder and criminal possession of a weapon for the shooting death of a man who was in town to visit his Marist College freshman son for “Family Weekend.” Johnson has two prior felony convictions.
Twenty-six-year-old Devin Taylor, also allegedly homeless, has been charged with two felony counts of criminal possession of a weapon for his role in Sunday’s murder. Taylor has one felony conviction already.
Chief Cavaliere indicated that minimal details of the crime will be released in an effort to preserve the prosecution of the two men, but did indicate that the victim and the suspect were not familiar with each other and the victim was a random target.
Dutchess County Chief Assistant District Attorney Matt Weishaupt called the incident “unspeakable” and vowed to provide a vigorous prosecution despite the new discovery laws. “We will leave no resources unturned, we will spare no resource, to bring those involved in this to accountability.”
Chief Cavaliere also credited his two officers that arrived first on the scene. Both female officers, according to Cavaliere, “ran into that hotel – just doing their jobs, and put themselves in danger, despite the bad press and pressure that police currently face.”
Video of Chief ADA Matt Weishaupt talking about the prosecution:
