Mount Vernon Man Pleads Guilty to Single Charge in Baseball Player's Death

Acting Westchester County District Attorney James A. McCarty announced Wednesday that Garth O’Neil Cole, 23, of 406 S. 3rd Ave., Mount Vernon, New York pleaded guilty to one count of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, a class “C” Violent Felony, in the shooting death of Michael Nolan.

Three Bronx residents have already pleaded guilty in the 2015 drive-by shooting of the up-and-coming baseball player, a Westchester resident who had been drafted by the Oakland Athletics in 2014.

Nolan was struck in the head by a bullet while standing in a Burger King parking lot on Central Park Avenue in Yonkers Sept. 18, 2015. He was declared dead Oct. 9.

Nashaun Hunter of 4375 Bruner Ave., who is about to turn 18, pleaded guilty to one count of Manslaughter in the First Degree, a class “B” Violent Felony.

Darren Dawson, 19, of 4352 Bruner Ave., pleaded guilty to one count of Assault in the First Degree, a class “B” Violent Felony.

Tejmitra Singh, 23, of 760 East 237 th St., pleaded guilty to one count of Assault in the First Degree, a class “B” Violent Felony.

The DA said Nolan was standing outside his black Mercedes loaner car in the parking lot of the Burger King Restaurant when a white Toyota Camry slowly rolled up alongside. Inside it were the above-named defendants. Suddenly, six shots rang out from the back driver’s side window of the Camry — one of which struck Michael Nolan in the head.

Nolan was brought to Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx where he remained in a coma until he was declared dead on Oct. 9.

An extensive investigation was carried out by the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, the Yonkers Police Department and the Westchester County Intelligence Center, the DA said.

That investigation revealed that the shooting was in retaliation for the beating of an individual known to the suspects and related to events that took place during a drag race two nights before the shooting.

Detectives found .25 caliber shell casings at the scene. A .25 caliber bullet was recovered from the victim’s body.

The men were arrested on March 2. All four are in jail.

Hunter, Singh and Dawson will be sentenced on Oct. 12, 2016. Cole will be sentenced on Dec. 1, 2016.

Assistant District Attorneys Julia Cornachio and James Bavero of the Superior Court Trial Division are prosecuting the case.