Conviction in Wantagh college student slaying
Devon Callicutt, 20, was convicted of first-degree murder in the October 2008 shooting death of Richard Bailey. Credit: Albany Police Department
An Albany jury on Tuesday convicted a 20-year-old man of first-degree murder in the October 2008 shooting death of college student Richard Bailey of Wantagh, a spokeswoman for the Albany County district attorney said.
De Von Callicutt, of Rensselaer, was found guilty by the jury of 10 women and two men, spokeswoman Heather Orth said.
Callicutt also was convicted of attempted robbery and weapon possession in connection with Bailey's death, Orth said. The jury found Callicutt guilty of first-degree robbery for mugging another man seven minutes after shooting Bailey, she said.
Callicutt faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole. Acting State Supreme Court Justice Dan Lamont set his sentencing for Feb. 3.
The jury reached its verdict about 2:30 p.m. in Albany County Court. Jurors had deliberated about 10 hours over two days at the end of a one-week trial.
Bailey, 22, a student at Albany State University, was shot on Oct. 20, 2008, hours after he returned to Albany following a trip home to Long Island.
Prosecutors said Bailey was walking to his off-campus apartment about 11:20 p.m. when Callicutt and two other men accosted him and demanded money. Callicutt shot him in the head, prosecutors said.
Bailey died the next day at an Albany hospital.
Two others charged in the crime, Ricardo Caldwell, 19, of Schenectady, and King Jamell Modest, 18, of Albany, pleaded guilty earlier this year and cooperated with prosecutors.
On the day he was shot, Bailey, the son of retired New York City policeman James Bailey, had taken the city police exam and visited his parents and grandmother.
He then drove to Albany, where he watched a football game with friends at an off-campus apartment before heading for his own apartment, family members said shortly after his death.
Caldwell and Modest pleaded guilty to first-degree attempted robbery for their roles in Bailey's slaying.
Caldwell is scheduled for sentencing on Jan. 3; Modest on Jan. 10.
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Year-round tick season for LI ... Commack housing development ... Bethpage Air Show ... Isles game 3
