Albany County District Attorney Lee C. Kindlon announced today that the Albany teen who shot and killed a 21-year-old Rensselaer man in February during a marijuana deal setup is heading to prison.
The 16-year-old, who was 15 at the time of the shooting and will not be named because of his age, was sentenced by the Honorable Jennifer Sober to serve 12 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to Murder in the Second Degree.
On Feb. 10 at around 1:40 a.m., Albany Police responded to the 200 block of Yates Street near South Lake Avenue for reports of an individual unresponsive inside a vehicle. Upon arrival, officers located Quadair Hoffler with a gunshot wound to his head.
The victim was treated on scene by emergency medical personnel and transported to Albany Medical Center Hospital, where he was pronounced deceased.
The teen, along with another teen co-defendant, purchased marijuana from Hoffler earlier that night, but then called Hoffler requesting to buy more marijuana with the intention of robbing him.
At the second meeting, the teen flashed a gun at Hoffler and ordered him out of his vehicle. Hoffler sped away and the teen fired off several shots, one striking him in the head.
The teen then fled the jurisdiction before he was picked up by U.S. Marshalls in Virginia Beach. He will serve the first two years in a juvenile detention center before being transferred to the custody of the NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
The 16-year-old co-defendant has had his case transferred to Family Court.
Before sentencing, several relatives spoke about Hoffler and how the senseless crime has left the family broken.
“The pain is constant, heavy and impossible to put into words,” said aunt Jeanvive Washington. “Quadair is our joy, our laughter, our light. Now, all we have is silence where his voice used to be. Every day, since his murder, feels like trying to breathe with no air. His family is left with sadness that doesn’t ease. We wake up and go to bed with grief, but the worst part of it all is knowing that he will never come home again. My nephew had dreams, a future, a whole life ahead of him.”
Collin D’Arcy, Assistant District Attorney and Bureau Chief of the Vehicular Crimes Unit, prosecuted the case along with ADA Kayla Meagher of the Street Crimes Unit.
