Schenectady man convicted in 2022 killing
SCHENECTADY — A city man faces up to 42 years to life in prison at sentencing for gunning down an unarmed man “out of jealousy and malice” over a woman on a city street in spring 2022.
Jurors rejected Anthony Romero’s claim of self-defense and instead convicted him Friday afternoon following a two-week trial of second-degree murder, as well as two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence in the May 30, 2022 killing of Treavine Tate.
Tate, who turned 21 on the day he died, was shot multiple times on Hulett Street between State and Albany streets in the city’s
Hamilton Hill neighborhood.
Friends drove Tate to Ellis Hospital’s emergency room where he later succumbed to the gunshot wounds.
The slaying was captured at various angles by several surveillance cameras, including two operated by the Schenectady County district attorney’s office.
The video, which was a key part of the prosecution evidence presented by Assistant County District Attorney Michael Nobles, shows Romero and Tate arguing before Romero pulls a Glock pistol from a bag resembling a satchel.
Nobles said Monday that the footage goes on to show an unarmed and shirtless Tate walking across the street away from Romero, who followed him into the street before firing the weapon, even after Tate crumpled to the ground. The victim was shot four times.
“I can tell you they (jurors) asked to watch the video multiple times during their deliberations, they came back out and watched them again at least twice, and asked for multiple angles each time, so the video was very important to them in reaching their verdict,” Nobles said. “It’s our burden of proof that he’s not justified beyond reasonable doubt, and in reaching that conclusion, they kept on going back to the video to verify it.”
Asked about motive, Nobles said “the victim was dating the defendant’s ex-girlfriend and she was present with the victim when the defendant came upon the two of them.”
Romero, who was identified early on in the criminal probe as the suspected killer, was apprehended by the federal marshal’s task force, which includes Schenectady police, five months after the homicide.
At trial, he testified, according to the district attorney’s office, that he acted in self-defense even though he knew Tate was unarmed and that he later hid the gun, burned his clothes, and fled New York. The murder weapon was never recovered.
Defense Attorney Kyle Davis, who represented Romero, said Monday during a phone interview that he “respects the jury’s verdict, but disagrees with it” and plans to appeal the conviction.
Sentencing before Schenectady County Court Judge Mark Caruso is slated for the morning of May 1.
The defendant faces a maximum of 25 years to life on the top murder count as well as 15 years each on the weapons offenses, which, along with the 2- to- 4 year penalty on the tampering with evidence charge, could run consecutively.
Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney in a statement Monday credited Nobles for doing “an excellent job in explaining to the jury the defense of justification including all of the reasons it did not apply in this case” and noted that Romero killed Tate “on his 21st birthday out of jealousy and malice.”