111 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
White Plains, NY 10601
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March 16, 2016 -- Acting Westchester County District Attorney James A. McCarty announced that Antonio Barnett (DOB 01/11/93) of Yonkers, New York was sentenced today to twenty-two years in state prison on his Jan. 29, 2016 conviction of:

• one count of Manslaughter in the First Degree, a class "B" Felony and
• one count of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree, a class "D" Felony.

On April 18, 2015 at 6:27 a.m. the Yonkers Police Department received a 911 call from a security guard at the rear gate of the Schlobohm Houses (8 Schroeder St.) reporting that a man was at the gate with a knife attempting to stab another man.

He stated the defendant, later identified as Antonio Barnett, chased the victim, David Benitez down the ramp leading to the apartment buildings.

Just a few minutes before, surveillance video taken at a deli located at 45 Palisade Ave. shows Benitez exiting the deli sipping coffee.

The video shows Barnett immediately running up to the victim whereupon he plunges a large kitchen knife into his victim's back. The victim then runs and the defendant pursues the victim with the knife in hand to the apartment complex where he shuts the rear gate to escape the defendant who is still wielding the knife.

The police responded to the rear gate and found Benitez bleeding heavily. He was transported to Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx and died in surgery two hours later.

Minutes later, based on witness descriptions of Barnett, other members of the Yonkers Police Department located him at nearby gas station and placed him under arrest.

The knife was recovered on the roof of a nearby building.

The defendant was remanded to the New York State Department of Corrections.

Along with the state prison sentence the defendant will be required to undergo five years post-release supervision.

Assistant District Attorney Laura Murphy of the Superior Court Trial Division prosecuted the case.