LI Man Found Guilty Of Murdering Man During Argument: DA

MORICHES, NY — A Riverhead man was found guilty of shooting a man following an argument the victim had with his girlfriend in 2020, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.

On Tuesday, Michael Gilbert, 29, was convicted after a jury trial — heard before Acting Supreme Court Justice Anthony S. Senft —of second-degree murder, a violent felony, and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a violent felony, Tierney said.

Gilbert is due back in court on November 2 for sentencing and faces up to 40 years to life in prison; he is being represented by Jonathan Manley, Tierney said. Manley did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The evidence at trial established that on November 26, 2021, just after midnight, Gilbert overheard

Tyrell Durham, 37, of Moriches, yelling obscenities at Lashonda Coles, Gilbert’s girlfriend, over
the telephone, the DA said.

Coles, 30, was on the phone with her friend, who was dating Durham, Tierney said. Both Coles and Durham resided in the same apartment complex in Tall Oaks Circle, Moriches, the DA said.

During that telephone call, Coles and Durham got into a verbal altercation because Durham overheard Coles ask her friend why she was with "the guy that knocked her teeth out," the DA said.

Durham became angry and cursed at Coles; during the duration of that telephone call, the argument grew to include Gilbert and Durham, who then began yelling at each other, Tierney said.

That argument resulted in Gilbert challenging Durham to "meet me outside," officials said.

Durham and his girlfriend went outside the apartment and, moments later, Gilbert and Coles appeared around the corner of the building, at which point Gilbert fired a .22 caliber semiautomatic handgun at Durham six times, striking him three times, Tierney said.

Durham was pronounced dead within one hour of being taken to Long Island Community Hospital in East Patchogue, Tierney said.

Gilbert fled the scene but later surrendered to Suffolk County Police homicide detectives on December 1, 2021, after retaining his attorney, the DA said.

During the trial, Durham's girlfriend identified Gilbert as the shooter, having known him for nearly two decades, even previously attending middle school with him, the DA said.

Coles corroborated the verbal altercation between Gilbert and Durham and testified that she saw Durham shot outside of his apartment — and that she saw a gun in Gilbert’s hand, Tierney said.

Additional eyewitnesses corroborated the path Coles and Gilbert took to confront Durham, including those who witnessed Gilbert firing a gun six times, the DA said.

During the investigation, six shell casings and six projectiles were recovered, with three of the
projectiles recovered from Durham’s body, Tierney said.

All six shell casings were also determined to have been fired from the same gun, Tierney said.

Evidence presented at the trial included the results of swabs taken from a slide sandal recovered from the parking lot of the apartment complex, believed to point where Gilbert fled from the scene, which was near Cole’s apartment, the DA said. In addition, a buccal swab was obtained from Gilbert; swabs taken from the slide sandal were analyzed by the Suffolk County Crime Laboratory, revealing a partial DNA profile, Tierney said.

It was determined that the partial DNA profile previously obtained from the slide sandal matched Gilbert’s DNA profile, Tierney said.

"A man is dead because a needless argument caused this defendant to pull a trigger and thoughtlessly take the victim’s life," said Tierney. "One has to wonder if the defendant, who is now convicted of murder and faces 40 years in prison, thinks it was worth the time."