GOSHEN – A 23-year-old Town of Wallkill man was sentenced in Orange County Court on Tuesday to 18 years in state prison in connection with the fatal stabbing of a 74-year-old man after a road rage incident on October 20, 2022.
Horace Duke will also face five years of post-release supervision in connect with the murder of Joel Laddy, also of Wallkill.
Duke was convicted by a jury last April of manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon.
As established at trial, Duke was involved in a motor vehicle accident with Laddy that escalated into a verbal argument in the vicinity of exit 119 of Route 17 in the Town of Wallkill.
During the argument, Duke stabbed the victim once in the chest with a kitchen knife, puncturing his heart and causing his death.
“The evidence at trial proved that this defendant fatally stabbed an unarmed and elderly man after their cars had been involved in a collision,” District Attorney David Hoovler said. “Road rage is dangerous and can escalate into irreversible acts of violence. The defendant was aware that a passenger in his car was speaking to the police on a telephone and there was no reason for him to confront the victim with a knife. The loss of life in this case was both senseless and preventable.”
