Hudson Valley Man Ordered The Execution Of His Child's Mother

ORANGE COUNTY, NY — Prosecutors say an additional sentence for an inmate who was already in prison for murder, will keep him off the streets for good.

Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced that 53-year-old Cornelius Stubbs, of Newburgh, was sentenced on Monday to 25 years in prison after previously being convicted by a jury of first-degree attempted murder for trying to cause the death of a Newburgh woman, who was the mother of one of his children, by ordering another man to kill her.

"The violent reign of this offender is over and he will spend the rest of his life behind bars, where he deserves to be," Hoovler said. "Thirteen years ago, this defendant tried to kill a woman and escape detection by commanding someone else to kill her. That cowardly attempt was unsuccessful and the unflagging efforts of the police officers and prosecutors in this case enabled jurors to reach a just verdict. While the hard-fought convictions and sentences against this defendant will not bring back the victim that he killed, or erase the pain, both physical and emotional, that he has caused so many other victims, I hope that the surviving victims, and the deceased's family and loved ones will be afforded some measure of closure. These cases highlight the destructive and irreversible consequences of domestic violence."

The sentence was ordered to run consecutive to a previously imposed life without parole sentence for a separate murder conviction.

According to court documents, on October 2, 2011, Stubbs tried to cause the death of the mother of one of his children while she was in her home on Washington Street in the City of Newburgh, by arranging for another man to enter her home to kill her. The victim was shot four times during the attack.

Evidence at the trial showed that a court had previously issued an order of protection to protect the woman from Stubbs at the time he ordered the unidentified accomplice to kill her.

At the time of the trial, Stubbs was already serving a prison sentence for first-degree murder, and other charges, in a case involving other victims.

On September 20, 2022, Stubbs was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, in addition to an extra 25 years to life sentence to run consecutively to the life in prison sentence when he was convicted by a jury of all 31 charges against him. Those charges included first-degree murder, stemming from the September 2019 shooting death of a 21-year-old college student inside a New Windsor home.

The woman had been visiting her boyfriend, who is the brother of the mother of one of Stubbs' children. Stubbs broke into the brother's apartment, shot the brother, and fatally shot the girlfriend. The brother was seriously injured in the attack.

In that trial, Stubbs was convicted of two counts of first-degree attempted murder, second-degree attempted murder, first-degree burglary, first-degree assault, and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

Stubbs was also convicted of ten counts of first-degree criminal contempt, first-degree coercion, eight counts of second-degree criminal contempt, three counts of second-degree aggravated harassment, and two counts of second-degree harassment, for having repeatedly threatened and harassed the mother of his child, as well as her brother.

District Attorney Hoovler thanked the City of Newburgh Police Department for their investigation and the arrest of Stubbs, as well the New York State Police, the Town of New Windsor Police Department, the Town of Newburgh Police Department, and the Hudson Valley Crime Analysis Center who helped in the investigation.