POUGHKEEPSIE – The Dutchess County District Attorney’s Office began presenting evidence to a grand jury on Wednesday regarding the Courtyard by Marriott hotel killing of a Marist dad on Sunday, October 2, 2022. Chief Assistant District Attorney Matt Weishaupt told Mid-Hudson News that prosecutors are expected to wrap up the presentation on Thursday.
The two defendants in the Courtyard case, Roy Johnson Jr., 35, and Devin Taylor, 26, were initially scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing in the Town of Poughkeepsie Justice Court on Friday, October 7. Weishaupt said that if the presentation to the grand jury is concluded on Thursday, the town court preliminary hearing will not occur.
Roy Johnson Jr. is in the Dutchess County Jail without bail charged with the felonies of murder and criminal possession of a weapon. He is accused of killing 53-year-old Paul Kutz of Long Island with an illegally modified Glock handgun.
Devin Taylor, who was staying at the Courtyard with Johnson, is in the Dutchess County Jail charged with two felony counts of criminal possession of a weapon. Bail for Taylor has been set at $500,000 cash, $1 million bond, or $5 million partially-secured bond.
Weishaupt, speaking at a press conference earlier in the week intimated that Taylor might face federal charges in addition to state charges for his role in the murder.
Video of Weishaupt speaking at the press conference:
