On a summer afternoon in Yonkers, New York, 33-year-old Kenneth Earl Hill was fatally shot while sitting in a parked car. The incident occurred on August 25, 2015, at approximately 1:35 p.m. in front of 127 Morningside Avenue. Hill was in the front passenger seat of a Hyundai Sonata with another man, Roylin Fairclough, who was in the driver's seat.
A gunman approached the vehicle from behind and opened fire, striking both occupants multiple times.
Kenneth Hill sustained gunshot wounds to his head, neck, and spinal cord and was transported to Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, where he succumbed to his injuries. The second victim, Fairclough, was also seriously wounded, with shots to his head, right shoulder, and back, but he survived the attack after undergoing surgery at the same hospital. Yonkers police immediately began an investigation, stating that they did not believe the shooting was a random act and that the victims were specifically targeted.
Authorities explored a possible connection between Hill's murder and a fatal hit-and-run that had occurred in April of the same year. Sources suggested that Hill may have been romantically involved with both the victim and the accused in that case, Glynis Pinto and Carla Scott, respectively. It was alleged that Scott had threatened Hill after her arrest in connection with Pinto's death. However, while police acknowledged that some individuals were connected to both incidents, they did not officially confirm a direct link between the two crimes.
The investigation into the shooting led to the arrest of 29-year-old Dontae Degree of Elmsford on October 19, 2015. Detectives utilized video surveillance, license plate readers, and cell phone records to identify Degree as the suspect. In February 2017, a jury found Dontae Degree guilty of one count of Murder in the Second Degree, one count of Attempted Murder in the Second Degree, one count of Assault in the First Degree, and one count of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree. Subsequently, in October 2017, he was sentenced to 50 years to life in state prison for the killing of Kenneth Hill and the wounding of Roylin Fairclough.
