Kingston, NY—On August 14, 2024, Shaquez Nesbitt, age 24, of Poughkeepsie, pleaded guilty to Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, a class C violent felony, in Ulster County Court before the Honorable Bryan Rounds. Nesbitt is scheduled to be sentenced on November 13, 2024, to seven-and-a-half years in state prison followed by five years of post-release supervision.
On February 5, 2024, Nesbitt was involved in a verbal dispute with his partner in her home. He then left the residence and began threatening her and her child through text messages to her while he was outside of her door; his threats included shooting up her home while she and her child were inside. The victim called 911 and Kingston Police Department officers responded to the victim’s home. The officers interviewed both the victim and Nesbitt and dutifully recovered Nesbitt’s loaded handgun in a maintenance room near the victim’s home.
Ulster County District Attorney Emmanuel C. Nneji said, “This case highlights the multiple threats presented by domestic violence and illegal gun possession, which increase the volatility and impulsivity of any situation, presenting a real danger to the lives of victims, responding police officers, the perpetrator, and unsuspecting members of our community. It inevitably leads to regrets after the harm is done. Additionally, who knows what might have been had the police officers not found the gun? There are so many ways this could have ended in tragedy: including a child finding the gun and playing with it, or someone else finding and using it. On behalf of the people of Ulster County, I am grateful for the victim’s courage to take action by calling 911 to protect her child and herself, and to the Kingston Police officers who, in the way they persevered in the case and searched for hours to find the gun, protected us from a potential tragedy.”
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Kristen Druse, Gun Violence Unit Chief. The defendant is represented by Joey Drillings of the Ulster County Public Defender’s Office.
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