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Port Jefferson resident Joseph Garcia, age 20, has been sentenced to 40 years to life in prison after being convicted of murdering Shirley resident David Bliss, age 25, in March 2021.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said that specifically, Garcia was convicted by a jury on Thursday, April 7 of:
- Second-degree murder;
- Criminal possession of a weapon;
- Criminal contempt.
Tierney said that on March 24, 2021, Garcia shot Bliss once in the stomach at approximately 3:30 p.m. in Port Jefferson, which caused him to die within minutes.
The DA noted that Bliss did not know Garcia at the time of the shooting, and had gotten into a verbal dispute with him. while walking on Main Street to pick up a pizza.
Prosecutors said that there were multiple surveillance cameras that captured the shooting, which depicted Garcia deliberately firing the gun at Bliss before attempting to keep shooting when the gun jammed.
Following the shooting, Tierney said that Garcia and his associates fled the shooting in a vehicle that traveled into Setauket, where he was seen laughing and joking about the shooting on video at the home.
In audio on the video, Garcia admitted to the shooting and had plans to flee the area to avoid being arrested.
“This senseless act of violence was caused by a verbal dispute, which (Garcia) later joked about as if the life of the victim had no value,” Tierney said. “Certainly, this sentence is no laughing matter and now (Garcia) has decades to think about what he has done while he faces responsibility for his actions.”
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