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The incident occurred in Ulster County in Jan. 2023 in Plattekill.
The men, Orange County resident Junando Dawkins, age 30, of Newburgh, and his brother, Juwaugh Dawkins, age 34, of Jacksonville, Florida, were sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison on Tuesday, Sept. 17.
According to the Ulster County District Attorney, Emmanuel Nneji, New York State Police conducted the investigation into the shooting death of Daniel Spotards, a 41-year-old father of two, whose body was found at the end of his driveway in the town of Plattekill.
The DA's Office said the investigation showed Spotards was shot multiple times at close range. Town of Plattekill residents also contributed by calling law enforcement after discovering discarded cell phones a short distance from the crime.
The trial consisted of over 40 witnesses, predominantly law enforcement from the New York State Police and the Jacksonville, Florida Sheriff’s Office, New York City Police Department, and the Town of Saugerties Police Department, as well as civilian witnesses.
Expert witnesses linked the cell phone locations of the men to the scene of the crime, and State Police divers recovered parts of a Glock semi-automatic pistol from the Hudson River in January 2023 that included DNA from Juwaugh Dawkins.
At sentencing, Spotards partner and mother of his eight-year-old child spoke, imploring the men to think of all the children, including their own, that their crime had impacted.
The victim’s mother read a victim impact statement from Spotards’ 16-year-old daughter, which described the pain of losing her father and the many vital moments he would miss out on.
The victim’s mother provided a statement and displayed posters, including photos of her son with his children.
“The shots that killed Daniel Spotards did more than kill him; they took him away from his children and family, and each of the 12 shots pierced the sense of safety and psychological well-being of the community," Nneji said.
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