Sources: Cooperating witnesses could testify at Tyler Flach's murder trial

Three of the seven friends who authorities say brawled alongside Khaseen Morris’ alleged killer in an afterschool fight in Oceanside could testify against the accused at his trial after secretly becoming cooperating prosecution witnesses, sources close to the case told Newsday.

Jury selection is slated to start Monday in Nassau County Court in the murder case against Tyler Flach, starting with a pool of about 300 potential jurors for a trial that is expected to last about a month.

It has been just more than three years since prosecutors say the Lido Beach resident plunged a knife into the heart of Morris, a 16-year-old Oceanside High School senior, during a melee in a strip mall parking lot.

Now 21, Flach pleaded not guilty to an indictment on felony charges of second-degree murder and first-degree gang assault and misdemeanor assault and weapon charges after the encounter on Sept. 16, 2019.

A group of seven young men from Long Beach — all later also indicted — went to the prearranged fight with Flach in connection with a dispute over a girl, according to authorities.

They’ve alleged Flach stabbed Morris after he and his friends charged at Morris and his friends.

Sources told Newsday the three cooperating prosecution witnesses previously pleaded guilty to the felony gang assault and misdemeanor assault charges against them during sealed court proceedings.

In general, cooperating witnesses who testify in a manner that prosecutors find to be truthful avoid harsh punishment and sometimes even can get their cases dismissed.

Brendan Brosh, a spokesman for the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, declined to comment on the case before jury selection.

Flach's attorney, Edward Sapone, told Newsday: "Whenever a cooperating witness, who has admitted his own guilt, points the finger at another person, we must ask ourselves: To what extent will their own motives, such as a desire for a lighter sentence, affect their testimony? Can we really trust them? Our defense will not be affected by these cooperators. I look forward to meeting them at the witness stand."

‘See the truth’

A lawyer for Taj Woodruff, 20, whom the sources identified as one of the cooperating prosecution witnesses, wouldn’t confirm or deny if his client had made such a deal.

But Woodruff’s attorney, Donald Rollock, also said in a Newsday interview that Morris “lost his life for absolutely no reason.”

Then he added: “I think that a jury is going to see the truth.”

Newsday is not publishing the names of the other two indicted defendants whom sources identified as cooperating prosecution witnesses because police said they were 16 at the time of their arrests.

Attorney Jerald Carter, who represents one of those defendants, declined to comment. Attorney Scott Gross, who represents the other defendant, also declined to comment.

Law enforcement officials said Morris arrived at the Brower Avenue strip mall knowing the ex-boyfriend of a girl he was friendly with wanted to confront him.

Morris’ family has said the teen texted the ex-boyfriend to say he wasn’t dating the girl and had just walked her home from a party.

Police said the encounter, which unfolded about 3:45 p.m. in the popular after-school hangout area, was captured on video.

The case attracted national attention after police initially said 50 to 70 young people watched the fight and dozens used smartphones to record the attack instead of helping Morris, before posting the video on social media.

But in a reversal, police said later that only about 20 kids watched the deadly fight and as few as two recorded it.

A grand jury indicted all seven of Flach’s friends on a felony gang assault charge in connection with the attack and a misdemeanor assault count.

Authorities said the latter charge was linked to the injuries of a 17-year-old friend of Morris, who suffered a broken arm and head injury in the brawl.

‘Every step of the way’

Three other defendants who previously pleaded guilty in the case are serving one-year sentences at Nassau’s jail and are due for release in December.

Those defendants, Marquis Stephens Jr., 21, Javonte Neals, 21, and Sean Merritt, 20, admitted when pleading guilty to gang assault that they caused serious physical injury to Morris while acting intentionally at the strip mall with a group that included Flach and fellow assault defendant Haakim Mechan.

The defendants also agreed in court that Flach was the person who caused the serious harm to Morris. 

Nassau Supervising Judge Teresa Corrigan granted youthful offender status to the trio of defendants at their April sentencings. That means their convictions in the case will be sealed as confidential records that only are available to authorities in narrow circumstances.

Charges remain pending against Mechan, 22, after Acting State Supreme Court Justice Howard Sturim — who will preside in Flach’s trial — recently severed Mechan’s trial from Flach’s.

A lawyer for Mechan, who pleaded not guilty to two assault charges, told Newsday in a statement that “the court did the right thing” in severing his client’s trial.

"These alleged actions by Mr. Flach have nothing to do with my client, and having his case alongside my client's case can only unfairly prejudice his ability to have a fair trial," attorney Aaron Wallenstein added.

The severance likely means an even longer wait for Morris’ family before an end to a case they vowed to follow “every step of the way” in pursuit of justice.

“What’s in the dark will come to light. The truth will always overstep nonsense,” Morris’ oldest sister, Keyanna Morris, told Newsday after Flach’s murder arraignment in October 2019.

The family’s grief was tinged with anger at the sentencings of Stephens, Neals and Merritt.

During the proceeding, a cousin of Morris’ described the trio as being part of a group that “set out for your prey like animals” and failed to stand up to Morris’ alleged killer and say, "This isn’t right."

After court, Keyanna Morris called those defendants’ yearlong sentences “a smack in my face,” before also adding in a Newsday interview: “This is not my definition of justice.”

The Morris family didn’t grant an interview request before jury selection.

‘Fresh start’

Khaseen Asher Bryan Morris was an avid skateboarder who died the month before he would have turned 17.

Sporting half a head of fiery-looking dyed hair, Morris had just started his senior year at Oceanside High, had a dream of studying photography and a talent for drawing and writing music, those close to him said.

The youngest of four, he and his parents, two sisters and brother had moved over the summer from their hometown of Freeport to Oceanside.

He saw the move as a “fresh start” from some of the constraints he felt in school in Freeport because of his individualistic style and varied interests, Keyanna Morris said previously.

She said the 16-year-old told their mother a few days before he died: “This is the happiest I’ve been in so long.”

Hundreds of people, including family, friends, Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder and other law enforcement officials came to an Oceanside funeral home to pay their respects to the teenager.

Some of the mourners wore bright colors and even tie-dyed shirts in a salute to a young man who was remembered for his infectious smile and buoyant spirit.

Not his only brush with police

Authorities have said Flach’s arrest in the slaying wasn’t his only brush with police.

In May 2019, police arrested him on charges of allegedly beating up a 15-year-old in Island Park a month earlier in what they described as a road rage incident. The same month as the deadly brawl, police in Albany County arrested Flach on a drug possession charge.

Sapone has said Flach comes from a “solid, hard-working family” and had been living with his mother in Lido Beach. Flach’s parents are divorced and his father divides his time between Israel and New York, according to the attorney.

He said Flach, a 2018 graduate of Long Beach High School, had been attending Nassau Community College and majoring in business and music sound engineering.

Sapone also has said Flach’s arrest history doesn’t tell the whole story about his client, whom he said has “an excellent voice with a large following of fans” on both social media and in the community.

Flach — who went by “BabyTy” — had caught the attention of a music producer, who met with him to take him on as a client, according to the defense lawyer.

A video for the rap song “When the Trap Call,” posted on YouTube about a month before the afterschool fight, showed Flach smoking, flashing cash and hanging out on Pine Street in Long Beach.

When it comes to footage of the afterschool brawl, those videos "capture a snapshot of what occurred that day" and not what happened before or in the aftermath, Sapone said after Flach's October 2019 arraignment.

“There is another side to the story,” the defense attorney said.