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Cynell Brown, age 32, was convicted of the 2018 murder of 34-year-old Jessica Wiltse of Tarrytown on Wednesday, Nov. 16, according to Westchester County District Attorney Miriam Rocah.
On Feb. 27, 2018, around 7:10 a.m., Brown shot Wiltse twice in her chest and arm with a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol at her Tarrytown residence on White Plains Road, Rocah said.
Wiltse was later taken to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla and was pronounced dead, according to Rocah.
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.
Following the shooting, police found the gun used in the murder in a bus stop garbage can near Wiltse's home as well as a suitcase containing papers with Brown's name and phone number, Rocah said.
Police were also able to find a bag of cocaine that Brown had thrown out of a cab window as he fled the area, and also obtained security footage of Brown purchasing groceries the night before the shooting that had been found in Wiltse's residence, according to Rocah.
Authorities later found Brown at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan attempting to board a bus to Delaware the evening after the shooting, Rocah said.
Brown was found guilty of the following:
- Second-degree murder;
- Second-degree criminal possession of a weapon;
- Fourth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance;
- Two counts of tampering with physical evidence.
According to Rocah, Brown faces a minimum of 15 years to life and a maximum of 25 years to life when he is sentenced on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023.
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