Convicted hit man in murder-for-hire plot sentenced to prison

GOSHEN - The Middletown man convicted of murder after being hired to kill a Wallkill man's neighbor was sentenced to 18 years to life in state prison on Friday.

Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler announced the sentence for Damante T. Stansberry, 25, of Middletown.

Stansberry previously pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, a felony, on March 30, 2023.

His sentencing came one day after the man accused of hiring him, Enoch Lowe, 25, of Wallkill, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. A jury convicted Lowe of first-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence and second-degree conspiracy, all felonies, in May.

As alleged during Lowe's trial and in documents filed and statements made in court, Lowe had long-standing animosity with a neighbor and hired Stansberry to kill him.

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Prosecutors said Lowe promised Stansberry $15,000 to commit the murder, and acted as a lookout, informing Stansberry when the neighbor was alone, outside and vulnerable to being attacked.

At approximately 5 p.m. on Oct. 30, 2022, Stansberry arrived at the residence of the 53-year-old victim and repeatedly stabbed him while he was repairing a fence in his backyard.

Evidence at Lowe's trial established that Lowe sent text messages to Stansberry immediately before he left to commit the murder, and the two men spoke by cell phone as soon as Stansberry returned from committing the murder.

"By the significant sentence imposed today, both individuals involved in the senseless killing of a member of our community have now been held responsible," Hoovler said in a statement released by his office.

The name of Stansberry's attorney was not immediately available.

Mike Randall covers breaking news for the Times Herald-Record and the Poughkeepsie Journal. Reach him at mrandall@th-record.com.

This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Convicted hit man in murder-for-hire plot sentenced to prison