Wallkill man sentenced to life without parole in murder for hire case

On Thursday, July 18, Enoch Lowe, 25, of Wallkill was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole following his jury conviction in Orange County Court on the charges of murder in the first degree, tampering with physical evidence and conspiracy in the second degree, Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler announced. The Court also imposed a sentence of one and one third to four year in prison on the tampering with physical evidence charge and ordered that sentence to run consecutive to the sentence imposed on the murder charge.

According to the DA’s office, Lowe hired Damante T. Stansberry, 24, of Middletown to kill Lowe’s neighbor, Jeffrey Harris, 53; Lowe reportedly had a “long-standing animosity” with the victim. At 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 arrived at Harris’s house and repeatedly stabbed him. Harris was reportedly repairing a fence in the backyard of his residence at the time of the attack. During the trial, the prosecutors claimed Lowe sent text messages to Stansberry immediately before Stansberry left to commit the murder and had spoken to Stansberry using a cellphone as soon as Stansberry returned from committing the murder. On March 30, 2023, Orange County DA Hoovler represented the People in court when Stansberry pled guilty to murder in the second degree in connection with Harris’s death. Stansberry is awaiting sentencing.

The investigation included members from 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. The case was presented to an Orange County Grand Jury which charged Lowe with the crimes, including murder in the first degree and conspiracy in the second degree.

Hoovler thanked the Town of Wallkill Police Department, and all the law enforcement agencies involved in the arrest and investigation of Lowe and Stansberry.

“The only sentence appropriate in this case is the one imposed, which ensures this violent offender will never again be able to hurt anyone in our community,” said Hoovler. “I offer my condolences to the victim’s family and friends and I hope that the sentence imposed renders a degree of closure. I applaud the dogged efforts of the Town of Wallkill Police Department, all the agencies that aided them, as well as the skilled prosecutors who saw the case through to the verdict that ensured justice was served.”

Hoovler also commended Chief Assistant District Attorney Christopher Borek and Assistant District Attorney Bryan Conway who prosecuted the case.