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Cynell Brown, age 32, was sentenced to 25 years to life on Thursday, Jan. 12 for the 2018 murder of 34-year-old Jessica Wiltse of Tarrytown, according to Westchester County District Attorney Miriam Rocah.
On Feb. 27, 2018, around 7:10 a.m., Brown shot Wiltse twice and hit her chest and arm at her Tarrytown residence on White Plains Road. She was then taken to Westchester Medical Center, where she later died.
The early morning shooting had led to several school lockdowns throughout the county, with Mamaroneck's school district even letting students out early, according to authorities.
While investigating the murder, police were able to find the gun used in the shooting inside a garbage can at a bus stop near Wiltse's home. A suitcase containing papers with Brown's phone number and name was also found near the same garbage can.
Authorities also found a bag of cocaine that Brown had thrown out a cab window as he was leaving the area of the murder, and surveillance video that showed Brown buying groceries the night before the killing that had later been found at Wiltse's residence.
Brown was found guilty of second-degree murder on Wednesday, Nov. 16, in addition to the following:
- Second-degree criminal possession of a weapon;
- Fourth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance;
Two counts of tampering with physical evidence.
Rocah commented on the brutal killing.
"Today’s sentence is justice for the heinous and cold-blooded murder of Jessica Wiltse, a mother of two who was shot and killed in a place where she should have felt safest – her home," she said.
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