GOSHEN – A 24-year-old Middletown man pled guilty in Orange County Court on Thursday to murder in connection with the death of a Wallkill man who was found stabbed several times inside the detached garage of his Town of Wallkill residence.
It is alleged that on October 30, 2022 at about 5 p.m., Damante Stansberry arrived at the victim’s Brookline Avenue home and repeatedly stabbed the 53-year-old Jeffrey Harris to death, said District Attorney David Hoovler.
“He indicated during his guilty plea that he intentionally killed Jeff Harris with a knife. No motive or other information was disclosed at the time and has been disclosed thus far other than that,” he said.
Stansberry concealed a mask, rubber cloves, hooded jacket and a shoe that he had been wearing by staffing them in a storm drain.
He was arrested on November 1, 2022.
The DA’s office is recommended 20 years to life in prison; the minimum is 15 years to life.
The investigation conducted by Wallkill Police was assisted by State Police, the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, Hudson Valley Crime Analysis Center and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
