Tyler Flach faces 25 years to life in death of Khaseen Morris in Oceanside brawl

The Lido Beach man convicted last year of second-degree murder in the 2019 fatal stabbing of 16-year-old Khaseen Morris during an after-school brawl is facing 25 years to life in prison Tuesday when he is sentenced in Nassau County Court.

Tyler Flach, 22, is expected to appear before acting Supreme Court Justice Howard Sturim in what would be a third attempt to sentence him for fatally stabbing Morris, an Oceanside High School senior, after a school fight in the parking lot of an Oceanside strip mall in September 2019.

Sturim is also expected to rule at the hearing on a defense request to dismiss Flach’s second-degree murder conviction or reduce it to manslaughter.

Flach was convicted on Nov. 1 of second-degree murder and other charges in the death of Morris, who was stabbed in the heart during the fatal encounter more than three years ago.

Flach was scheduled for sentencing on Dec. 14, but that was delayed after the defendant replaced trial attorney, Edward Sapone, with the Rosenberg Law Firm of Brooklyn to represent him during sentencing and appeals. The sentencing was delayed again earlier this year to allow the new defense team to file court papers asking the judge to set aside the verdict.

Nassau County prosecutors Daryl Levy and Ania Pulaski said during the trial that the brawl was initiated by the jealous ex-boyfriend of a girl who Morris had walked home from a party after moving from Freeport to Oceanside. 

Flach joined that teen and others from Long Beach when they squared off against Morris and his friends from Freeport on Sept. 16, 2019, near a pizza parlor popular with high school students. 

Sapone argued that although Flach was holding a knife when he threw punches at Morris, he did not intend to stab the 16-year-old. Sapone told the jury that the evidence showed that Morris had suffered a single — and accidental — stab wound to the heart and that other injuries on the boy’s torso occurred as first responders and medical personnel struggled to save his life. 

Prosecutors said Flach stabbed Morris multiple times. 

Flach’s new lawyers argued in papers filed with the court that the defendant was overcharged and overconvicted. They claimed prosecutors misled the jury about the number of times Flach stabbed Morris.

In a motion filed on Jan. 30, attorney Jonathan Rosenberg argued that the murder verdict should be set aside or reduced to manslaughter because of ineffective counsel, in part because Sapone should have called witnesses — including Flach — to testify about whether he intended to fatally stab Morris.

The papers also claimed prosecutorial misconduct, in part because of the disagreement about how many times Morris was stabbed. 

Prosecutors in a response pushed back on the allegations that Sapone had provided ineffective counsel, arguing in court papers, saying Sapone defended Flach with “vigor and skill.” 

“Trial counsel had a coherent strategy in aggressively defending this case as an accidental stabbing that occurred during a gang fight,” Pulaski wrote.

The jury convicted Flach on the sixth day of deliberations after about a week of testimony from 20 witnesses in all.

“We got justice for Khaseen,” the victim’s oldest sister, Keyanna Morris, said through sobs as his family left court rejoicing and shedding tears.

Flach shook his head a few times and didn't look back as court officers led him out in handcuffs after the verdict.

"When a jury is on day six of deliberations, no legal team should hang their heads low … It was a hard-fought case," Sapone said later.