On the evening of May 31, 2016, a resident of the Bronx, Joseph Huguet, a 29-year-old male, was in Doyle Park in Yonkers, New York. What began as a seemingly ordinary evening turned tragic when he was approached by Robert Daniels in an attempted armed robbery. When Huguet refused to surrender his property, Daniels fatally shot him multiple times with a. 380 caliber semi-automatic pistol before fleeing the scene on foot. Police arrived at the park around 8:40 p.m.
to find Huguet with several gunshot wounds to his torso. He was quickly transported to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy later revealed that Huguet had sustained bullet wounds to his neck and torso, which caused lacerations to his heart, lung, and liver, leading to significant internal bleeding.
The Yonkers Police Department launched an intensive investigation into the homicide. Detectives interviewed numerous witnesses, canvassed the area for video evidence, and utilized field intelligence to identify a suspect. Their efforts quickly led them to Robert Daniels of Yonkers, who was arrested just two days later, on June 2, 2016. Daniels was subsequently charged with one count of second-degree murder, a class 'A' felony. The swift arrest was praised by city officials, who emphasized that violent crime would not be tolerated in the community.
The case against Robert Daniels proceeded through the legal system, with Assistant District Attorney Nicholas DiCostanzo of the Superior Court Trial Division leading the prosecution. On April 27, 2017, Daniels pled guilty to the charge of murder in the second degree before Judge Barry Warhit. On July 12, 2017, he was sentenced to a term of 20 years to life in state prison for the murder of Joseph Huguet.
