Sentenced Killer Tells Parents of Victim Their Son Wasn't Innocent

WHITE PLAINS, NY — A third defendant in the shooting death of rising baseball prospect Michael Nolan was sentenced Wednesday.

Acting Westchester County District Attorney James A. McCarty said Nashaun Hunter, 18, received 25 years in state prison after having pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter, a felony.

The defendant chose his court appearance to say to Nolan’s parents that their son “was not innocent,” according to the Journal News, drawing a rebuke from the judge.

Nolan was shot in the parking lot of the Burger King restaurant at 826 Central Ave. in Yonkers around 12:38 a.m. Sept. 18, 2015.

Hunter was in the white Toyota Camry, along with co-defendants Tejmitra Singh, Darren Dawson and Garth O’Neil Cole, that rolled up beside the car Nolan was standing next to, according to police.

Hunter fired six shots from the back driver’s side window of the Camry. One shot struck Nolan in the head.

He was taken to Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx where he remained in a coma until he was declared dead Oct. 9, 2015.

Nolan was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in 2014, while he was on the baseball team at Oklahoma City University.

An investigation found that the shooting was in retaliation for the beating of someone known to Hunter and related to events that began during a drag race two night prior to the shooting.

Hunter was arrested March 2, 2016. After sentencing, he was remanded into the custody of the state Department of Corrections.

On October 26, 2016, in Westchester County Court:

Tejmitra Singh (DOB 12/03/92) of 760 East 237th Street, Bronx, New York, was sentenced to 11 years in state prison after having pled guilty to:

• one count of Assault in the First Degree, a class “B” Violent Felony

Darren Dawson (DOB 03/04/97) of 4352 Bruner Avenue, Bronx, New York, was sentenced to nine years in state prison after having pled guilty to:

• one count of Assault in the First Degree, a class “B” Violent Felony.

Garth O’Neil Cole (DOB 04/08/93) of 406 South 3rd Avenue, Mount Vernon, New York previously pled guilty to:

• one count of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, a class “C” Violent Felony.

He is due to be sentenced next month.

For more details, including comments from members of Nolan’s family who gave victim impact statements, read the Journal News' court coverage by clicking here.

Photo caption: Nashaun Hunter. Photo credit: Westchester County District Attorney.