Sep. 7, 2021 -- Westchester County District Attorney Miriam E. Rocah announced that Jahliv Niles, the Peekskill man who fatally stabbed a Peekskill teen in 2020 and subsequently attacked a fellow detainee at Westchester County Jail, was sentenced on Sept. 2.

Niles, 20, was sentenced to 20 years in state prison with five-years post-release supervision for the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Omarion McKenzie. He was also sentenced to two years in prison with three-years post-release supervision for attacking a fellow detainee at Westchester County Jail in Valhalla.

Niles pled guilty on May 11, 2021, to Manslaughter in the First Degree and Assault in the Second Degree, both felonies. Both sentences will be served concurrently.

On March 27, 2020, at approximately 11:15 a.m., Niles, who was 18 at the time, approached McKenzie on Howard Street in Peekskill, and fatally stabbed him in the chest, stomach and back. McKenzie was taken to NewYork Presbyterian Hudson Valley Hospital in Cortlandt Manor where he was pronounced dead. Niles fled the scene, but was identified and arrested by Peekskill Police following their investigation.

The Westchester County Department of Public Safety assisted in the investigation.

On May 19, 2020, Niles attacked a fellow detainee at Westchester County Jail, where he had been held since his arrest following the Peekskill incident.

“Family and friends of Omarion McKenzie have been forced to mourn a life that was tragically cut short due to a senseless act of cruelty,” DA Rocah said. “This sentence will bring some measure of closure and justice to them and to the Peekskill community.”

The case was before Judge Barry Warhit in Westchester County Court and was prosecuted by Cold Case Bureau Chief Laura Murphy and Assistant District Attorney Brian Bendish.

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Jess Vecchiarelli, Director of Communications
(914) 995-3586
jvecchiarelli@westchesterda.net