Baldwin Man Sentenced To 20-To-Life In Connection With Shooting Death Of 19-Year-Old Student Athlete: DA

MINEOLA, NY — A Baldwin was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to murder and attempted murder charges in connection with the 2025 shooting death of 19-year-old Amira McCleod, Nassau County prosecutors announced Tuesday.

District Attorney Anne Donnelly’s office said Tuesday that 18-year-old Jacob McMillan had been sentenced to jail time in connection with the shooting that took place outside a house party at 10:50 p.m. on Nov. 22, 2025.

In that shooting, prosecutors said McMillan fired off two gunshots after the host of the party attempted to pat him down, hitting the host of the party in the arm and running away. As he ran, prosecutors said McMilan turned around and fired a third shot.

The third shot, prosecutors said, hit McCleod in the head after going through someone else’s shoulder. McCleod, a 19-year-old from St. Albans, Queens, was at the party with her friends and died instantly, prosecutors said.

“Amira McCleod was a gifted student athlete whose future was stolen in an instant by this defendant’s reckless disregard for human life,” Donnelly said. “Jacob McMillan chose to settle a petty dispute with violence and senselessly fired into a crowded party without a second thought, tragically killing Amira with a stray bullet. While no amount of prison time can ever replace Amira, we hope today’s sentence brings a measure of justice to her family, teammates, and community, knowing that this defendant will spend decades behind bars facing the severe consequences of his actions.”

After firing the shots, prosecutors said the other two people who had been hit by bullets were hospitalized while McMillan hid in a back yard for about 10 minutes before calling a ride share. The Ford Edge that picked up McMillan dropped him off at a property in Baldwin that borders his home, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said they reviewed video surveillance from the evening of the shooting in their efforts to find McCleod’s shooter, spotting McMillan exiting a Long Island Railroad train at Baldwin before boarding a Nassau Inter-County Express bus that he got off of a block south of the home where the party was taking place. In that footage, prosecutors said McMillan was wearing the same clothes that he was seen wearing at the party.

McMillan was arrested Dec. 2, 2025, and pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder, one count of second-degree attempted murder and one count of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, prosecutors said.

Tuesday, Newsday reported that McCleod's mother, Monique Baldwin, wept as she asked McMillan why he had done what he did.

"Why [did] you take my baby?" Baldwin asked, per Newsday. "You don’t have no remorse, you coward. ... You are ruthless and you are a monster."