Jurors don't reach a verdict Monday in murder trial of Tyler Flach, accused of fatally stabbing Khaseen Morris

Jurors in Tyler Flach’s murder trial asked to speak privately with the judge presiding in the case and to leave at 3 p.m. Monday — Halloween — before finishing a fifth day of deliberations without a verdict.

“Unfortunately, under the law, I can’t do that,” Acting State Supreme Court Justice Howard Sturim told the panelists of their request for a private audience with him.

The judge told the jury to write him another note if they wanted something more specific. But no more notes came Monday during the Nassau County Court trial.

At 3 p.m., Sturim dismissed jurors early, as they had requested, after saying they had been “diligent” and their efforts were appreciated.

Flach, 21, of Lido Beach, pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, first-degree gang assault and misdemeanor weapon and assault charges following the stabbing death of Khaseen Morris, 16, in an after-school brawl in Oceanside on Sept. 16, 2019.

The families of both the victim and the defendant waited for the verdict in the Mineola courthouse’s hallways Monday, as they have since deliberations began last Tuesday.

Morris’ oldest sister on Friday called the wait “torture” and compared it to the time her family spent in a hospital waiting for answers on the day of her brother's slaying.

Flach’s attorney, Edward Sapone, said Friday that every day a jury deliberates and doesn’t return a verdict “is a very good day for the defense.”

He asked jurors in his closing argument last week to convict his client of second-degree manslaughter and second-degree gang assault.

Second-degree manslaughter has a maximum punishment of 5 to 15 years in prison, compared to a top sentence of 25 years to life behind bars for second-degree murder.

Jurors also could convict Flach of first-degree manslaughter, which carries a top penalty of 5 to 25 years behind bars.

The prosecution contends Flach meant to kill Morris, an Oceanside High School senior, when he stabbed him at least twice — including once in the heart.

The defense contends Flach was reckless and not acting intentionally when he stabbed Morris a single time while throwing “bunches of punches” with a knife in his hand during the prearranged fight in a strip mall parking lot.

Testimony showed the fight was sparked by friction with the jealous ex-boyfriend of a girl Morris walked home from a party, a teenager who was among the eight friends of Flach who fought by his side that day against Morris and a group of his friends from Freeport.

The jury will start its sixth day of deliberations Tuesday morning.