125-Year Sentence In Christmas Nightclub Murder, Shootings

MOUNT VERNON, NY — The Bronx man who was found guilty in the 2016 Christmas morning fatal shooting in a nightclub was sentenced Monday to 125 years in prison. Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino said Errol Hillary, 41, was sentenced on the following charges:

• Second-degree murder, a felony, 25 years to life in state prison.
• Five counts of second-degree attempted murder, felonies, 20 years in state prison for each of the counts.

Scarpino said the sentences will run consecutively equaling a minimum of 125 years to life in prison

In addition, Hillary was sentenced to 10 years in state prison for second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. The sentence will be served concurrently with the other sentences.

Scarpino say Hillary entered The Mansion, a nightclub on North 3rd Street, around 2:50 a.m. Dec. 25, 2016.

While there, he became agitated and began to cause a disturbance, police said. Asked to leave, Hillary began to fight with two members of the security team. Security attempted to remove him by dragging him to the front door.

O'Neil Bandoo, 36, the owner of the club, was standing outside with another man, a friend of Hillary's, when they heard the commotion. The two men entered the club and asked Hillary to comply with security and leave.

That is when Hillary walked toward the front door of the club, pulled out a 9mm firearm and began shooting back into the hallway from the threshold of the door, Scarpino said.

Prosecutors said that Hillary shot Bandoo once in the chest, killing him. He is also accused of shooting and seriously wounding five others who were in the hallway at the time, some of whom suffered multiple gun shot wounds.

Hillary tried to run away but was tackled in front of the club. During the struggle, he dropped his gun. He nearly broke free at one point, and two other members of the club's security detail tackled him, preventing him from getting the gun back.

Finally he managed to break free and run but was chased and caught by Mount Vernon police officers.

At the time of the shooting, Hillary was out on $200,000 bail from an attempted murder charge in the Bronx. That case is still open and pending.

Image via Shutterstock.