Second man in murder for hire plot sentenced
Wallkill. Damante Stansberry was sentenced to 18 years to life in prison for his role in the killing of a Wallkill man.
Wallkill /
| 19 Jul 2024 | 05:25
Damante Stansberry. (
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On Friday, July 19, 2024, Damante Stansberry, 24, of Wallkill was sentenced to 18 years to life in prison after previously pleading guilty to murder in the second degree in Orange County Court, Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler announced. Hoovler’s team recommended that Stansberry be sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for his role in the homicide that took the life of 53-year-old Jeffrey Harris.
As alleged in court, Stansberry was hired by Enoch Lowe to kill Lowe’s neighbor, Jeffrey Harris, with whom Lowe had “long-standing animosity.” At the trial prosecutors argued that Lowe promised Stansberry $15,000 to commit the murder and acted as a lookout, informing Stansberry as to when Harris was vulnerable to attack. On October 30, 2022, at about 5 p.m., Stansberry repeatedly stabbed Harris while he was repairing a fence in his backyard.
On March 30, 2023, Stansberry pled guilty to murder in the second degree in connection to Harris’s death.
The investigation involved members of the Town of Wallkill Police Department, the New York State Police, the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the Hudson Valley Crime Analysis Center, the United States Secret Service and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. Lowe was separately charged with murder in the first degree and conspiracy in the second degree; he was sentenced on July 18 to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
District Attorney Hoovler thanked the Town of Wallkill Police Department, and all the law enforcement agencies involved in the arrest and investigation of Lowe and Stansberry.
“By the significant sentence imposed today, both individuals involved in the senseless killing of a member of our community have now been held responsible,” said Hoovler. “I commend the hard work of the Town of Wallkill Police Department, all the agencies that aided them, as well as the skilled prosecutors who handled the case. My Office remains committed to the relentless pursuit of violent criminals and we will hold them to account for their actions.”
District Attorney Hoovler also commended Chief Assistant District Attorney Christopher Borek and Assistant District Attorney Bryan Conway who prosecuted the case.