DA: 2 brothers sentenced in Ulster County murder trial

KINGSTON, N.Y. ( NEWS10 ) — According to the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office (DA), two brothers were sentenced in a murder trial on Tuesday. Junando Dawkins, 30, of Newburgh, and Juwaugh Dawkins, 34, of Jacksonville, Florida, face 25 years to life in state prison.

The Dawkins brothers were accused of shooting Daniel Spotards, 41, multiple times at a close range in January of 2023 in Plattekill. The DA’s Office said a sanitation worker discovered the body at the end of Spotards’ driveway.

Junando Dawkins was found in Fort Liberty, North Carolina in March of 2023 as he was about to be deployed overseas as a Sergeant in the Army. Juwaugh Dawkins fought extradition but was eventually extradited from Florida in June 2023.

The trial, consisting of over 40 witnesses, had experts link the defendants to the crime scene through cell phone locations. State Police divers also recovered parts of a pistol from the Hudson River in January 2023 that included Juwaugh Dawkins’ DNA.

The jury trial lasted 11 days and the brothers were convicted on April 29 for second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

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