Jury clears Woonsocket man, 23, in deadly shooting. Here's why.
PROVIDENCE – A Woonsocket man has been cleared of charges related to a deadly 2020 shooting in Providence.
A Superior Court jury on Thursday acquitted Dontay McNeill, 23, in in the death of Manee Castillo off Manton Avenue on July 28, 2020.
The jury found McNeill not guilty of first-degree murder, discharging a firearm while committing a crime of violence that ended in death and carrying a pistol without a license after a trial before Judge Robert D. Krause. He would have faced mandatory double life sentences if convicted of first-degree murder and discharging a firearm.
Gary G. Pelletier, McNeill's lawyer, said the case hinged on witness testimony identifying the shooter as wearing a white hoodie, but video footage showed McNeill in a denim jacket at the time.
"I commend the jury for giving the case the weight and attention it deserved. The jury has given [McNeill] a chance at a life," he said. He described McNeill, who had been held since his arrest in 2020, as a good, smart young man.
Castillo, 20, was the city’s fifth homicide victim at the time in 2020. Police said at the time that the shooting came after an altercation near Castillo’s home on Herschel Street. McNeill turned himself in to Providence police several days after the shooting.
McNeill was represented by Pelletier and Tina Green. The case was prosecuted by Scott A. Erickson and Alison L. Bittl.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Woonsocket man, 23, acquitted in deadly shooting in 2020
