David Sadler attacked 17-year old after a dice game
MINEOLA, N.Y. – Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced that a judge sentenced a former Hempstead pizza delivery man to 25 years in prison for the July 2014 death of a teenager whom he attacked with a machete after a disagreement about a dice game.
David Sadler, 47, of Hempstead, was found guilty on February 19 of Manslaughter in the 1st Degree (a B violent felony) and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the 3rd Degree (a D felony).
Acting Supreme Court Justice Patricia Harrington sentenced the defendant to a determinate sentence of 25 years in prison for Manslaughter in the 1st Degree and an indeterminate sentence of 2-1/3 to 7 years in prison for Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the 3rd Degree.
The February trial lasted approximately three days and the jury deliberated for one day.
“This heinous and horrific act – the killing of a 17-year old with a machete – took place in the middle of the day and in the middle of the street,” DA Singas said. “The defendant not only took the life of Terrence Grier, Jr., but destroyed and devastated a family. While this senseless killing can never be undone, it is my hope that today’s sentence will help bring some measure of consolation to those mourning Terrence’s tragic loss.”
DA Singas said that on the afternoon July 18, 2014, Sadler was playing a dice game on Albemarle Avenue in Hempstead with the victim, 17-year old Terrence Grier, Jr. The defendant and the victim were in a dispute after the game and Sadler returned to the area brandishing a machete. Grier told the defendant that if he wanted to fight that he should drop the knife, but Sadler refused and struck him in the neck with the machete. The victim suffered significant injuries to his jugular vein and died shortly afterwards.
Sadler entered his car, but witnesses attempted to stop him and the vehicle was damaged in the process. The defendant was later arrested at his place of work by Hempstead Police Department officers.
Sadler was acquitted of the grand jury indictment charge of Murder in the 2nd Degree.
The defendant pleaded guilty to Promoting Prison Contraband in the 1st Degree (a D felony) on July 1, 2015, and was sentenced today by Judge Harrington to 2-1/3 to 7 years in prison to run concurrently to the manslaughter sentence.
Assistant District Attorney Martin Meaney of DA Singas’ Major Offense Bureau is prosecuting the case. Sadler is represented by Brian Carmody, Esq.