Newburgh Man who was previously sentenced to Life in Prison after being found guilty of Murder in the First Degree is convicted again of Attempted Murder in the First Degree for commanding the killing of another victim.

Defendant faces an additional 25 Years to Life in State Prison

Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced that Cornelius Stubbs, age 53, of Newburgh, was convicted by a jury in Orange County Court of Attempted Murder in the First Degree, for having attempted to cause the death of a Newburgh woman by commanding another man to kill her.

At the trial, prosecutors argued that on October 2, 2011, Stubbs attempted to cause the death of the mother of one of his children while she was in her home on Washington Street in the City of Newburgh, by having another man enter her home to kill her. Evidence at the trial proved that a court had previously issued an Order of Protection to protect the woman from Stubbs at the time he commanded the yet unidentified accomplice to kill her. The victim was shot four times during the attack. Stubbs was already serving a prison sentence for Murder in the First Degree, and other charges, with respect to other victims at the time of the trial.

On September 20, 2022, Stubbs was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus an additional twenty-five (25) years to life sentence to run consecutively to the life in prison sentence following a jury trial in the Orange County Court when he was convicted of all thirty-one (31) charges submitted to the jury against him.  Those charges included Murder in the First Degree, stemming from the September 2019 shooting death of a twenty-one-year-old female college student inside her New Windsor residence.  The deceased woman was in the apartment visiting her boyfriend, who is the brother of the mother of one of Stubbs’ children.  In that trial  Stubbs was also convicted of two counts of Attempted Murder in the First Degree, Attempted Murder in the Second Degree, Burglary in the First Degree, Assault in the First Degree, and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, for having broken into the brother’s New Windsor apartment, shooting the brother, and fatally shooting his girlfriend.  The brother was seriously injured in the attack. Stubbs was also convicted of ten counts of Criminal Contempt in the First Degree, Coercion in the First Degree, eight counts of Criminal Contempt in the Second Degree, three counts of Aggravated Harassment in the Second Degree, and two counts of Harassment in the Second Degree, for having repeatedly threatened and harassed the mother of his child, as well as her brother.

Stubbs faces a further sentence of  twenty-five (25) years to life in state prison, which can run consecutively to the prison terms that he is already serving. Stubbs is scheduled to be sentenced on the latest charges on February 10, 2025.

District Attorney Hoovler thanked the City of Newburgh Police Department for their investigation and the arrest of the defendant, as well the New York State Police, the Town of New Windsor Police Department, the Town of Newburgh Police Department, and the Hudson Valley Crime Analysis Center who aided in the investigation.

“Thirteen years ago, this defendant tried to kill a woman and escape detection by commanding someone else to kill her,” said District Attorney David M. Hoovler. “That cowardly attempt was unsuccessful and the unflagging efforts of the police officers and prosecutors in this case enabled jurors to reach a just verdict. While the hard-fought convictions and sentences against this defendant will not bring back the victim that he killed, or erase the pain, both physical and emotional, that he has caused so many other victims, I hope that the surviving victims, and the deceased’s family and loved ones will be afforded some measure of closure. These cases highlight the destructive and irreversible consequences of domestic violence.”

District Attorney Hoovler highly commended Senior Assistant District Attorney David Byrne and Assistant District Attorney Michael Roche who prosecuted the cases at both trials.

A criminal charge is merely an allegation by the police that a defendant has committed a violation of the criminal law, and it is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the State of New York’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.