On a cold December evening in Amsterdam, New York, the life of Robert Green, a 34-year-old White male, was cut short by gunfire. Around 7:20 p.m. on December 18, 2024, calls reporting shots fired sent police to the area of 60 James Street. Officers from the Amsterdam Police Department and Montgomery County Sheriff's Office arrived to find Green down in the roadway with more than one gunshot wound. Bystanders were already performing life-saving measures, which officers took over until paramedics arrived. Green was rushed to Albany Medical Center, but he succumbed to his injuries late in the evening on December 19, 2024.
An intensive investigation was launched by Amsterdam Police detectives, with assistance from the New York State Police. Investigators learned that the shooting stemmed from an ongoing dispute, or "beef," between a man named Angel Morales and Green's cousin. On December 19, the same day Green passed away, police arrested Morales, a 30-year-old from Amsterdam.
He was charged with second-degree murder, arraigned in Amsterdam City Court, and sent to the Montgomery County Jail without bail. The investigation continued, and on December 30, police located and arrested a second suspect, 40-year-old Freyland Sanyet-Malpica. He was charged with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
Prosecutors alleged that Morales, Sanyet-Malpica, and a third man, Jacob Baird, had gone to the James Street home together to settle the dispute with Green's cousin. While Baird’s case proceeded to a trial, his two co-defendants, Angel Morales and Freyland Sanyet-Malpica, both accepted plea agreements in connection with the killing. The district attorney’s office later confirmed that it had secured two convictions in the case: one for murder and one for manslaughter.
In the fall of 2025, Jacob Baird faced a jury in Montgomery County Court. During the trial, the only witness to identify Baird as the shooter was his co-defendant, Angel Morales. After hearing the evidence, the jury acquitted Baird of all charges. He was released from custody following the verdict. As of October 2025, the case was concluded with two convictions resulting from plea deals and one acquittal at trial.
