Nassau Man Gets 25 To Life For 2020 Murder

HEMPSTEAD, NY — A Hewlett man was sentenced today to 25 years to life in prison for the murder of a man in Hempstead in 2020.

Keith Pooler, 56, was convicted of second-degree murder and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon on May 13, 2022.

“Keith Pooler senselessly took Andre Garry’s life during a street corner fight, driving a steak knife into the victim’s heart,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly. “With today’s jail sentence, Pooler will pay for this terrible crime and his violence will no longer be a threat to the Hempstead community.”

According to Donnelly, around 9 p.m. on June 28, 2020, Pooler got into an argument with 49-year-old Andre Garry while they were standing on the corner of Terrace and Fulton avenues. As the argument escalated, Pooler pulled out a steak knife and stabbed Garry in the heart, then fled.

Garry was rushed to NYU Langone Hospital Long Island, where he was pronounced dead.

The knife was recovered nearby by police less than twenty minutes after the incident.

Pooler was arrested in Hewlett by detectives of the Nassau County Police Department’s Homicide Squad on July 11, 2020.