Cecil Toland, 20, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Schenectady County Court on Monday, Dec. 15, in the April 2025 killing of 35-year-old Wilfredo Vasquez.
First responders found Vasquez shot outside a neighborhood market on Van Vranken Avenue on April 23, 2025. Investigators determined that the shooting followed an argument between the two men roughly two weeks earlier.
Surveillance cameras captured the incident, and police identified Toland as the gunman with the help of an eyewitness at the scene, prosecutors said. Toland fled to New York City after the shooting but returned to Schenectady days later and turned himself in to authorities.
District Attorney Robert Carney said the crime “shattered lives,” noting that Vasquez was gunned down in front of Toland’s girlfriend’s children.
“They will live with the traumatic effects of Cecil Toland’s actions for the rest of their lives,” Carney said.
Vasquez leaves behind several young children and siblings, many of whom were in court for Monday’s plea and plan to deliver victim impact statements at sentencing.
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