In the late hours of a Thursday in August 2015, the city of Newburgh was marked by a senseless act of violence that claimed the life of a longtime resident. Sammy Stubbs, a 67-year-old male, was enjoying a game of cards with two companions at approximately 1:30 a.m. near the intersection of South Lander Street and Courtney Avenue. The friendly gathering was violently interrupted when gunfire erupted, leaving all three men shot.
Stubbs succumbed to his injuries, while his two friends were wounded in the attack.
The investigation into the shooting revealed a sinister motive rooted in the city's criminal underbelly. Authorities identified Skylar Davis, also known as 'S-Dot,' a prominent leader of the notorious 'Southside' street gang, as the perpetrator. The motive behind the shooting was the robbery of what was believed to be a high-stakes card game. On that fateful night, Davis and a fellow gang member, with guns drawn, approached the three men and opened fire. This violent act was just one of many carried out by the Southside gang, which was involved in a bloody turf war with the rival 'Yellow Tape Money Gang' and its allies.
The relentless work of the FBI's Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force and the City of Newburgh Police Department led to the dismantling of the Southside gang's criminal enterprise. In June 2017, Skylar Davis, then 22, was arrested as part of a sweeping multi-year investigation into the gang's rampant violence. Davis was already serving a 16-year state sentence for weapon and drug offenses when he was indicted for the murder of Sammy Stubbs and other violent crimes.
In a significant blow to the city's gang violence, Skylar Davis pleaded guilty to his involvement in a racketeering conspiracy, which included the murder of Samuel Stubbs. As part of his plea, Davis also admitted to his role in six other non-fatal shootings targeting rival gang members between 2015 and 2016. For his reign of terror and the cold-blooded murder of an innocent man enjoying a simple card game, Davis faced a mandatory minimum of 25 years and a maximum of life in prison.
