New York man pleads guilty to hate crime over stabbing of Jamaican-American woman
Scott Schunzel, 33, admitted attacking the woman in Newburgh in 2024 because of her race, and faces up to 10 years in prison.
NEWBURGH, United States. A New York man has pleaded guilty to a hate crime for stabbing a 59-year-old Jamaican-American woman, according to Jamie McDonald, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and James C. Barnacle Jr, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's New York Field Office.
McDonald said Scott Schunzel, 33, pleaded guilty on Thursday 22 October before US District Judge Vincent Briccetti in connection with the stabbing on 18 June 2024 of the woman, a longtime resident of Newburgh, a city in Orange County about 60 miles north of New York City.
The attack
According to the indictment, public filings, the plea agreement and statements in court, at about 10.30am that day Schunzel stabbed the woman with a knife "because of her actual and perceived race and color" while she was standing next to a parked fruit truck.
She suffered a deep wound to her left hamstring and was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital, where she received stitches.
McDonald said a search of Schunzel's home shortly after the assault found writing and materials showing animus against Black people, including statements about killing and stabbing Black women. The next day, Schunzel fled to Florida, where he was arrested by the FBI's Miami field office.
'No place in our community'
"Racially motivated violence has no place in our community," McDonald said. "This Office is dedicated to seeking justice for victims of hate-based crimes and will never cease to pursue and prosecute those who act on their bigotry with violence."
Barnacle said the plea recognised "the harm inflicted on the victim, who survived a terrifying, hate-fueled attack".
Schunzel pleaded guilty to one count of committing a hate crime, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
