N.Y. man gets 30 years in shooting death

March 21, 2008|By ERIN JULIUS

HAGERSTOWN - A New York City man was sentenced Thursday afternoon to 30 years in prison for his role in the 2007 slaying of a Franklin County man at a local bar.

Stephen Lamar Urquhart, 27, pleaded guilty in February to charges of second-degree murder and use of a handgun during the commission of a violent crime in the fatal shooting of Christopher Jason Ayala. Other charges, including first-degree murder and assault charges, were dropped in exchange for the plea.

Washington County Circuit Judge M. Kenneth Long Jr. sentenced Urquhart to 25 years on the second-degree murder charge and five years on the handgun violation. He must serve half of the 25-year sentence and the entire five-year sentence before he is eligible for parole.

Urquhart had faced up to 50 years in prison.

Ayala, 23, of Greencastle, Pa., was found on the floor of Zipper's bar on North Jonathan Street suffering from a gunshot wound on May 22 around 11 p.m. He was taken to Washington County Hospital, where he died.

Urquhart's defense team maintained that he and Ayala were friends, and that the shooting was an accident.

On the night of the shooting, Ayala walked up to another man in Zipper's and punched him. Ayala and the man, Omar Eipps, got into a fistfight, after which Eipps left the bar.

Assistant Public Defender Carl Creeden, one of Urquhart's defense attorneys, said Thursday in court that Urquhart was at the bar to support Ayala that night. He was supposed to keep others away from the fight, which was over a woman, Creeden said.

A warrant was issued for Urquhart in June 2007, and he was captured in New York City in August 2007.

Although Urquhart ran from the scene, he cooperated with police once he was captured, Creeden said.

Urquhart cried during an interview with detectives, Creeden said.

"No one is going to punish him any more than he punishes himself for what happened," Creeden said.

Assistant State's Attorney Viki Pauler said Thursday in court that Urquhart had three violent prior convictions, all on robbery charges, in New York. Ayala's family never had heard of Urquhart, and did not believe the men were friends, Pauler said.

Urquhart had to step over Ayala to escape from the bar and left him there to die, she said.

Family members of Ayala and Urquhart were in the Washington County Circuit Court courtroom where Urquhart was sentenced Thursday. Both families had traveled from New York.

Tiffany Ayala, the 20-year-old sister of Christopher Ayala, said Urquhart should have to serve a life sentence after Long announced the sentence.

Urquhart's mother and father both spoke in court, extending their condolences to the Ayala family.

"He doesn't have it in him to intend to kill anybody," said Urquhart's mother, who audibly prayed just before Long imposed sentence.

Urquhart was in the bar on Ayala's behalf, "to protect that gentleman that day," Urquhart's father said.

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