MedicCook
01-25-2007, 04:27 PM
Killer gets 50 years in prison
Hayes sentenced in murders of Schenectady mother, son
SCHENECTADY - A career criminal who admitted he killed a young woman who befriended him - then killed her infant son - was sentenced to 50 years to life in state prison this morning after his victims' family made a passionate plea for stiffer sentences for repeat misdemeanor offenders.
Kareem Hayes pleaded guilty to murder last year for killing 26-year-old Hillary Downey and her 13-month-old son Romello Taylor inside the woman's 902 Congress St. apartment.
"My daughter Hillary was a trusting person and Romello was an innocent child. They didn't deserve to die such horrible deaths in their own home," said the girl's father, Stephen Downey.
The Saratoga County man addressed the court before the judge imposed sentence.
Downey's request for enhanced penalties was supported by Deputy Chief District Attorney Philip Mueller, the prosecutor who handled the case.
Downey is pushing for passage of state legislation that would allow suspects with repeated misdemeanor convictions to be sentenced to extended prison stays rather than the current one-year cap on misdemeanors.
Downey befriended Hayes at the City Mission and allowed him to live with her even after she suspected him of stealing from her. She was waiting to give him a hug when he came through the door at about 2 a.m. Jan. 14.
Hayes, who police believe suspected that Downey was going to turn him in for stealing belongings from her, first choked the woman and then stabbed her with a kitchen knife.
He then traded two televisions, a compact disc player and speakers to a drug dealer, who in turn gave Hayes 1.7 grams of crack cocaine.
Hayes returned to the apartment and found the baby awake in the bedroom. He checked in on the baby and then began to choke him. In a statement to police, Hayes said that he then stabbed the baby. He did not give police a reason for killing the infant, but authorities believe he was afraid that the baby would have begun crying in the absence of his mother and drawn the attention of neighbors.
A plea bargain allows him to avoid first-degree murder charges and a possible sentence of life without parole if he had been convicted by a jury. Instead, the 33-year-old man will serve a 50-year prison sentence.
In court, Downey's brother, Zachary Downey, said he hoped Hayes would have a miserable time in prison. "Thugs and gangsters survive in prison. Baby killers don't," he said.
http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=557118&category=&BCCode=HOME&newsdate=1/25/2007
Hayes sentenced in murders of Schenectady mother, son
SCHENECTADY - A career criminal who admitted he killed a young woman who befriended him - then killed her infant son - was sentenced to 50 years to life in state prison this morning after his victims' family made a passionate plea for stiffer sentences for repeat misdemeanor offenders.
Kareem Hayes pleaded guilty to murder last year for killing 26-year-old Hillary Downey and her 13-month-old son Romello Taylor inside the woman's 902 Congress St. apartment.
"My daughter Hillary was a trusting person and Romello was an innocent child. They didn't deserve to die such horrible deaths in their own home," said the girl's father, Stephen Downey.
The Saratoga County man addressed the court before the judge imposed sentence.
Downey's request for enhanced penalties was supported by Deputy Chief District Attorney Philip Mueller, the prosecutor who handled the case.
Downey is pushing for passage of state legislation that would allow suspects with repeated misdemeanor convictions to be sentenced to extended prison stays rather than the current one-year cap on misdemeanors.
Downey befriended Hayes at the City Mission and allowed him to live with her even after she suspected him of stealing from her. She was waiting to give him a hug when he came through the door at about 2 a.m. Jan. 14.
Hayes, who police believe suspected that Downey was going to turn him in for stealing belongings from her, first choked the woman and then stabbed her with a kitchen knife.
He then traded two televisions, a compact disc player and speakers to a drug dealer, who in turn gave Hayes 1.7 grams of crack cocaine.
Hayes returned to the apartment and found the baby awake in the bedroom. He checked in on the baby and then began to choke him. In a statement to police, Hayes said that he then stabbed the baby. He did not give police a reason for killing the infant, but authorities believe he was afraid that the baby would have begun crying in the absence of his mother and drawn the attention of neighbors.
A plea bargain allows him to avoid first-degree murder charges and a possible sentence of life without parole if he had been convicted by a jury. Instead, the 33-year-old man will serve a 50-year prison sentence.
In court, Downey's brother, Zachary Downey, said he hoped Hayes would have a miserable time in prison. "Thugs and gangsters survive in prison. Baby killers don't," he said.
http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=557118&category=&BCCode=HOME&newsdate=1/25/2007