New charges for felon-turned-activist in shooting

ALBANY — Nearly two months after a judge dismissed a murder indictment against him, felonturned-activist Dontie Mitchell is facing new charges alleging he tried to kill a person in the same incident in Cohoes.

Mitchell, 44, pleaded not guilty at an arraignment Wednesday in Albany County Court to an indictment accusing him of attempted second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon. If convicted, Mitchell faces up to 25 years in prison on the attempted murder charge.

In December, County Judge Andra Ackerman dismissed a second-degree murder indictment against Mitchell that accused the defendant of firing a gun and killing 27year-old Shiier Leggett on Aug. 11 at Main and Schuyler streets in Cohoes just before 10:35 p.m. The judge determined there was insufficient evidence placed before a grand jury to show that Mitchell had engaged in the murder of Leggett, and that prosecutors failed to instruct grand jurors on the defense of justified deadly force.

The first indictment accused Nalik Sealy, 25, of South Carolina, a man with whom Mitchell was allegedly arguing on the night of the slaying, of second-degree murder, criminal possession of a weapon and two counts of first-degree reckless endangerment.

The new indictment, handed up by an Albany County grand jury Feb. 2, did not identify the person whom Mitchell is accused of trying to kill. Assistant Public Defender Rebekah Sokol, the attorney for Mitchell, said she believed the new indictment is accusing him of trying to kill someone other than Leggett.

“This new indictment, certainly, raises some questions,” Sokol told reporters following her client’s arraignment. “I’m sort of interested to see the new theory. It’s very hard to tell what the new theory exactly is because the individual that my client is accused of attempting to kill — that individual’s name is blacked out.”

Sokol said she was eager to review the new grand jury testimony, and would fight the new indictment.

“He is adamant that he did nothing wrong here, that he absolutely did not intend to murder anybody and we’ll see how this plays out,” Sokol said.

After committing a string of armed robberies with other teenagers in 1996, Mitchell had been serving up to 54 years in prison. In 2021, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo commuted the sentence of Mitchell, who had become an advocate and mentor for

other inmates while in prison. Mitchell served as chairman of the National Trust for the Development of Africanamerican Men at Auburn Correctional Facility, and led the NAACP chapter at Sing Sing Correctional Facility.

Sokol said her client was not in Cohoes to get involved in a gunfight Aug. 11.

“He was not there to fight with anybody. He was not there to hurt anybody. He certainly never wanted to hurt anybody,” the defense attorney said. “And when the situation escalated and he felt like his life was in danger, that’s when he tried to leave.”

Surveillance video captured Mitchell and Sealy arguing outside a store when seven of Sealy’s associates, including Leggett, surrounded Mitchell, according to the judge’s ruling. It said Sealy, with his hand in his pocket, got close to Mitchell’s face and yelled about his reputed Bloods gang affiliations and those on the block. Sealy and Mitchell drew handguns. A witness told the grand jury that Mitchell drew his weapon first. Ackerman said the video did not show it.

Ackerman’s ruling said almost immediately after guns were drawn, a gunwielding Sealy turned and ran down the street with his acquaintances. It said while evidence indicated Mitchell shot first, the video did not show Mitchell shooting. It said Sealy and an acquaintance returned fire and that Leggett was fatally shot by bullets fired by Sealy’s gun.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Jessica Blain-lewis.