By Associated Press - Wednesday, May 3, 2017

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) - A Westchester County man has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the fatal shooting of an Iona College student in a park.

Stivenson Desir, of New Rochelle, was sentenced on Wednesday after being convicted of the murder of 19-year-old Brandon Lawrence. The Yonkers man found dead on a ballfield at Lincoln Park in New Rochelle last April.

Prosecutors say the two had attended a party hours earlier at off-campus housing. They then joined three other men at the park where two of the men engaged in a pre-arranged fist fight.



While watching the fight, prosecutors say Desir pulled out a gun and fired, striking Lawrence in the torso.

At his sentencing, Desir apologized to the victim’s family.

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