William Pryor, a 23-year-old man, has been found guilty of second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of his roommate, Marquis Muniz, that occurred on March 3, 2022.
The shooting
The relationship between roommates and childhood friends Pryor and Muniz had soured by early 2022. Muniz had ordered Pryor to move out of their third-floor apartment on 284 Riverdale Avenue after suspecting him of theft. Then, the shooting occurred while Pryor was collecting his belongings. Ten shots were fired, with Muniz sustaining at least four gunshot wounds.
The case against Pryor was built primarily on circumstantial evidence, as there were no eyewitnesses to the shooting. However, prosecutors introduced evidence of a neighbor’s text messages and video footage. This evidence showed Pryor leaving the building seconds after gunshots were heard.
The timeline of events was crucial in establishing Pryor’s guilt. Muniz’s girlfriend, Yasmine Leonard, discovered his lifeless body later in the afternoon, but authorities determined the shooting took place at 3:40 p.m. This conclusion was based on the neighbor’s text message indicating that gunshots had been heard.
Following the shooting, Pryor engaged in a series of actions that prosecutors argued demonstrated a consciousness of guilt. He changed his clothes, disabled his phone, acquired a new one, and left the area to stay with his brother in Pennsylvania. Pryor also consented to be interviewed by detectives five days after the shooting. However, Yonkers police arrested him four months later.
The trial and verdict
Defense lawyer Angelo MacDonald argued that there was a lack of conclusive evidence linking Pryor to the crime. He suggested the possibility that another roommate could have been the perpetrator, citing the presence of a .22 caliber handgun hidden under the mattress of one of the roommates. However, prosecutors contended that this gun could not have fired the .40 caliber bullets that killed Muniz, and it was the roommate who voluntarily reported its existence to the police.
The jury’s guilty verdict came after a day of deliberations. Pryor now faces a sentence of up to 25 years to life in prison for his actions that led to the death of Marquis Muniz.
Muniz’s mother, girlfriend, and other relatives in attendance during the trial broke into tears as the guilty verdicts were announced. Marquis Muniz’s girlfriend, Yasmine Leonard, expressed her emotions.
My man was a good person, and (Pryor) was like family to him, so it breaks my heart that this happened. I’m just glad we got justice today. Nothing’s going to bring him back, and the trauma is going to stay with us, but we got justice.
Yasmine Leonard
William Pryor now awaits his December 8 sentencing for the second-degree murder of Marquis Muniz.
