In the early morning hours of July 11, 2020, Romero Underwood, a 47-year-old male, was brutally murdered in his own home on St. James Street in Kingston, New York. The attack, which occurred around 5 a.m., was a violent encounter that left Underwood pistol-whipped and with a fatal gunshot wound. Authorities were quick to respond to reports of the shooting, and upon arrival, they found a crime scene that would unravel a story of a drug-related robbery gone horribly wrong.
Underwood was transported to a nearby hospital, but his injuries were too severe, and he was pronounced dead. Investigators believed from the outset that the attack was not random, but rather a targeted event.
The investigation into Romero Underwood's death led police to two suspects: Raymond Snyder and Callin LeMon. The initial belief by prosecutors was that the duo had targeted Underwood to rob him of high-quality crack cocaine he had recently acquired while celebrating his 47th birthday. An intensive investigation, navigating the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, eventually led to the arrest of Raymond Snyder on January 20, 2021. A critical piece of evidence against Snyder was a droplet of his blood found on a wall inside Underwood's apartment, a place he had never been invited to. Further DNA evidence linked Snyder to the getaway car and to the location where the two handguns used in the crime were discovered.
The legal proceedings that followed were complex and at times fraught with challenges. Raymond Snyder's case faced significant legal hurdles, including the temporary dismissal of the murder charge in 2022 due to procedural errors by the prosecution. However, the case was later reassigned, and Snyder stood trial in October 2024. After an eight-day trial, a jury found Raymond Snyder, then 41, guilty of second-degree murder and two counts of first-degree burglary. In February 2025, he was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for his role in the murder of Romero Underwood.
The second suspect, Callin LeMon, faced a separate trial. While prosecutors alleged that LeMon was present at the scene and had fired the fatal shot, the physical evidence connecting him to the murder was not as strong as the evidence against Snyder. LeMon's DNA was found on a Gatorade bottle in the getaway vehicle, but not at the immediate crime scene. In June 2023, a jury acquitted Callin LeMon of murder, burglary, and the most serious weapons charges. He was, however, convicted on three counts of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, for which he was sentenced to a term of 3.5 to 7 years in prison. The verdict suggested the jury believed he possessed the illegal handguns but was not convinced he was at Underwood's apartment at the time of the murder.
