Defendant Pleaded Guilty to Manslaughter
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a Staten Island man has
been sentenced to 13 years in prison for fatally shooting a Bronx man in the Butler Houses in
October 2017.
District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant and the victim were involved in an
altercation, and the defendant later came back with a gun and killed the victim. We will not
tolerate using firearms to settle disputes.”
District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Kevin Pettiway, 29, of 97 Laurel Avenue, Staten
Island, was sentenced today to 13 years in prison and 5 years post-release supervision by Bronx
Supreme Court Justice Steven Hornstein. The defendant pleaded guilty to first-degree
Manslaughter on February 22, 2019.
According to the investigation, on the night of October 13, 2017, in front of the Butler
Houses located at 1330 Webster Avenue, the defendant shot Jayquan Smalls, 24, causing his
death. Earlier that day, Pettiway and Smalls had been arguing and the victim had beaten up the
defendant inside the Butler Houses.
The victim was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital where he later died. The defendant was
taken into custody on November 9, 2017.
District Attorney Clark thanked NYPD Detective Sasha Brugal of the 42nd
Precinct and retired NYPD Detective Sean O’Leary of Bronx Homicide.
