Man Who Tortured Autistic Teen To Death On The UWS Sentenced

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Mitchaux Booker was sentenced on Wednesday to 18 years in state prison for assaulting and causing the death of his autistic 15-year-old cousin on the Upper West Side in June 2021, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said.

According to Bragg, Jallen McConnie, the 15-year-old, had been living with his adoptive sister and legal guardian when he was sent to stay with his cousin Johnette Booker, who lived in an apartment on Columbus Avenue and West 94th Street in the summer of 2021.

Bragg said Johnette, 43, and Mitchaux, 37, intended to punish the teen for what they believed to be misbehavior at home.

During the 32 days McConnie lived on the Upper West Side, both Johnette and Mitchaux hit him repeatedly with belts, forced him to sleep on the floor, forced him to sit facing the wall with his legs crossed for the majority of the day, forced him to scrub her floor, and denied him his prescription medications, Bragg said.

On June 28, 2021, after both cousins beat McConnie, they made McConnie open his mouth in the bathroom and forced water down his throat until he collapsed in her bathtub, Bragg said.

Then the two cousins delayed calling 911 and lied to the medics, police and other emergency responders, Bragg said.

The cousins later claimed in a court document that McConnie had committed suicide, but a medical examiner deemed the cause of death to be homicidal asphyxia, Bragg said.

"Mitchaux Booker conducted a prolonged and brutal campaign of sustained physical and emotional abuse of his own cousin, a defenseless, special-needs child," Bragg said. "Booker’s actions, including his decision to delay medical care and lie to authorities to cover up what happened, cruelly cut Jallen McConnie’s life short. No family should ever have to endure such unimaginable heartbreak and devastation, and now, those involved have all been held accountable."

Johnette was sentenced to 20 years in state prison in March 2025.

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