Deon Ewers shot the man within an hour of arriving on a cross-country flight
MINEOLA, N.Y. – Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced that a California man was sentenced today to 25 years to life in prison for fatally shooting his estranged wife’s boyfriend in a Valley Stream home in November 2015.
Deon Ewers, 51, of Rancho Cucamonga, California, was found convicted by a jury on March 28 of Murder in the 2nd Degree (an A-I violent felony) and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the 2nd Degree (a C violent felony).
The trial, before Acting Supreme Court Justice Meryl Berkowitz, lasted eight days and the jury deliberated for approximately one day.
“This defendant flew across the country, senselessly murdered an innocent man in a jealous rage, and fled the scene,” DA Singas said. “Thanks to the outstanding efforts of Nassau police and our prosecutors, he was caught, convicted, and will spend 25 years to life in prison for this heinous crime.”
DA Singas said that in the early morning of November 6, 2015, the defendant had flown into New York from California. Shortly after his arrival, Ewers visited the home of his estranged wife in Valley Stream at approximately 6:50 a.m. The defendant stated that the purpose of the visit was to surprise his son and estranged wife.
While inside the house, the defendant encountered his estranged wife’s boyfriend, 34-year-old Majid Morris, in an upstairs bedroom. The defendant shot Morris multiple times, killing him and then fled the scene.
The defendant’s teenage son, who was in the house at the time of the incident, called 911 and the victim was pronounced dead shortly after at 8:04 a.m. at South Franklin Hospital. One of the gunshots can be heard on the 911 call.
The defendant dumped the murder weapon in between two fences behind a commercial establishment and then went to a laundromat to clean his clothing.
The defendant claimed during the trial that the shooting was accidental and in self-defense. Evidence recovered at the scene included five shell casings, bullet fragments in the bed, the victim’s DNA on the defendant’s pants, blood smears on sheets and a pillow with bullet holes.
Ewers was arrested by Nassau County Police Department Homicide Squad detectives on the following day in Oceanside.
Assistant District Attorneys Daryl Levy of DA Singas’ Major Offense Bureau and Lana Schlesinger of DA Singas’ County Court Trial Bureau are prosecuting the case. Ewers is represented by James Koenig, Esq.