Yonkers Man Gets 25-To-Life For 2020 Murder Of His Neighbor

YONKERS, NY — A man who murdered his neighbor after an argument could spend the rest of his life behind bars.

A Yonkers man was sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison for fatally shooting his neighbor, 23-year-old Lateef Butler, outside their Yonkers apartment building in 2020, Westchester County District Attorney Miriam Rocah announced today.

"In keeping my promise to hold perpetrators of gun violence accountable, today’s sentence brings justice for Lateef Butler’s family and removes a dangerous individual from our streets," Rocah said.

After a four-week trial, a jury in December found 31-year-old Terrence Gonzalez guilty of murder in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, both violent felonies.

SEE ALSO: 'Guilty': Jury Convicts Yonkers Man Of Murder For 2020 Shooting

On June 26, 2020, shortly after 6 p.m., the defendant used a .38 caliber revolver to shoot the victim five times, striking him in the neck, chest, hip and thigh, during a dispute outside the apartment building where they both lived on Nepperhan Ave. in Yonkers. The victim was transported to St. Joseph’s Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Following the incident, Yonkers police arrested Gonzales in the Saw Mill River, by Stefanik Park, after he fled the shooting scene and led police on a foot pursuit. Yonkers police later recovered the gun used to murder the victim under a bush near Center St., and obtained surveillance footage of the fatal shooting.