29-Year-Old Cold Case Solved, Man Sentenced For Sing Sing Stabbing: DA

OSSINING, NY — Another cold case has been closed under the auspices of a district attorney who has made seeking justice in unsolved crimes a hallmark of her tenure.

Westchester County District Attorney Miriam Rocah announced on Thursday that an Albany man was sentenced to 20 years in state prison for the 1995 fatal stabbing of 32-year-old Michael Jones when both men were incarcerated at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility.

"Thanks to the tenacity of the investigators and prosecutors dedicated to solving this cold case, we were able to secure convictions that finally hold accountable those responsible for the Christmas Eve death of Michael Jones at Sing Sing nearly 30 years ago," Rocah said.

After a five-week trial, a jury on May 20 found 54-year-old Allah-Son-Allah guilty of first degree manslaughter, and acquitted him of second degree murder. He will also be subject to five years of post-release supervision.

On Dec. 24, 1995, around 8 p.m., inside the Sing Sing Correctional Facility, Allah-Son-Allah used a buck knife to stab Jones in the chest, puncturing his heart, and causing him to bleed to death.

The investigation, which started in 1995 and was reinvigorated in 2019 by the New York State Police and the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, found that Allah-Son-Allah and Jones were purportedly members of the Five-Percent Nation, also known as Nation of Gods and Earth, a Nation of Islam breakaway group established in the 1960s.

As detailed during the trial, members of the Five-Percent Nation voted a day before the stabbing to attack Jones after he violated the group’s beliefs by wearing a cross.

New York State Police and the Cold Case and Homicide bureaus of the DA’s Office traveled to several states to interview witnesses who were also incarcerated at Sing Sing in December of 1995.

Allah-Son-Allah was arrested on May 16, 2023.

Co-defendant, 60-year-old Steven Smith, of Salisbury, North Carolina, who was also incarcerated with Jones at Sing Sing in 1995 and involved in the incident, was arrested on May 11, 2023. He awaits sentencing after pleading guilty on April 15 to second degree manslaughter.

Rocah thanked the New York State Police for their commitment in the decades-long investigation and the Albany Police Department and the Salisbury Police Department for their help with the arrests.

The case was before Judge George Fufidio in Westchester County Court and prosecuted by Homicide Bureau Senior Trial Counsel Brian Bendish and Cold Case Bureau Chief Daniel Flecha.

This most recent conviction is one of a string of cold cases brought to conclusion by the DA’s Office since Rocah launched the Cold Case Bureau soon after taking office in 2021 and making a promise to seek justice and closure for the families of victims in more than 130 open homicide cases in Westchester County.

The DA's office points to a commitment to renewing investigations and maximizing advancements in scientific and digital forensics. The office has made good on that promise securing 20-years-to-life prison sentences against defendants responsible for the 1997 murder of Pamela Graddick, the 2005 murder of Angel Serbay, a 25-years-to-life prison sentence in the 2017 murder of Diana Casado, and indictments in the 2017 death of Tremayne Williams and the 1982 Homicide of Kathleen Durst.