Tyler Flach gets 25 years to life for stabbing teen outside Long Island strip mall
OCEANSIDE, Long Island (WABC) -- A Long Island man was sentenced to 25 years to life behind bars in the killing of a teenager during a fight outside of a strip mall back in 2019.
Tyler Flach, 22, received the maximum sentence.
He was found guilty of second-degree murder, first-degree gang assault, misdemeanor assault, and weapons possession in the killing of 16-year-old Khaseen Morris during a trial last year.
"Everybody was able to see it. You went there intentionally to do more than cause harm. You went there intentionally to murder my brother. You targeted my brother and you murder him. Now, you got what you deserve," Keyanna Morris said outside the courtroom during the trial.
The Morris family said they waited through three years of darkness for this sentencing.
Back in September 2019, Morris was walking with friends after school near a strip mall in Oceanside when prosecutors say Flach and a group of people attacked them.
A fight over a girl that lead to a vicious stabbing that was all captured on SnapChat.
As the two groups fought, Flach stabbed Morris in the heart and the victim's heart stopped beating.
Flach was 18 at the time and insisted he never meant to kill anyone.
"As I see it, you were trying to impress people on your side of stupidity," the judge started.
"We were kids! We were kids! It was an accident," Flach interrupted.
"I believe that we had lots of convincing, persuasive evidence to show that this was bunches of bunches with a knife in hand and very sadly one had pierced the chest. Lots of witnesses testified, the prosecution had dozens of witnesses, and so the jury did not see it that way," Flach's attorney Ed Sapone said.
Morris died at Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital later that night.
Six of Flach's co-defendants pleaded guilty to various charges while one more is awaiting trial.
"Khaseen Morris was intelligent, friendly and had a smile that could light up a room," District Attorney Anne Donnelly said. "The young man was only 16 years of age and had recently transferred to a new high school, where he was making friends. The defendant, angry that Morris had walked a girl home, organized a group and went to a local strip mall with the intention of attacking Morris. Tyler Flach stabbed Morris in the chest and took the young man's life. This was an incredibly senseless murder and I thank our prosecutors, the Nassau County Police Department detectives and the jurors who sat on this trial, for carefully reviewing the evidence. We continue to stand with Khaseen's family, friends, and community as they mourn his tragic loss."
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