A New York man was sentenced Monday to 18 years in prison with all but 8½ suspended after he admitted that prosecutors could prove that he killed another man at a Union Street house in Bangor nearly two years ago.
Khalid Harris, 29, of the Bronx borough of New York City was indicted by a Penobscot County grand jury in October 2021 on one count of murder for shooting to death 28-year-old Syies Adams of Brooklyn, New York.
Bangor police found Adams, who was declared dead by paramedics on Dec. 10, 2020, after receiving a report of a possible death at around 8:30 p.m. that night at 1702 Union St. in Bangor. Adams died of a single gunshot wound to the right side of his chest, according to the Maine medical examiner’s office.
A female witness to the incident told police that she heard a gunshot during a fight between Adams and Harris while they allegedly were discussing drug sales.
Harris told Superior Court Justice William Anderson that he decided to take the plea deal rather than risk going to trial and entered what is called an Alford guilty plea. Defendants who enter Alford pleas do not admit to the details of the crime outlined by the prosecution but agree that a jury most likely would find them guilty.
Harris did not address the judge Monday at the Penobscot Judicial Center.
Defense attorney Hunter Tzovarras said that if Harris had gone to trial, he would have claimed he shot Adams in self-defense.
Assistant Attorney General Lisa Bogue said the agreement was reasonable given the challenges of overcoming that sort of defense at a trial. She also described some witnesses as “uncooperative.”
The murder charge was dismissed Monday in exchange for Harris’ guilty plea to manslaughter in an agreement with the Maine attorney general’s office, which prosecutes all homicide cases in Maine.
In accepting the plea deal and sentencing Harris, Anderson called the plea agreement “reasonable.”
The victim’s sister, Lashae Adams, said her brother was her best friend and his loss was devastating.
“You ripped my heart out when you took my brother’s life,” she said. “You left my brother to die alone and scared.”
She called Harris’ self-defense claim “bull***t.”
Rolanda Naraine, Adams’ girlfriend, told Harris, “When you killed him, you killed me,” and said the sentence was too short.
“That is not justice,” she said.
Both women appeared remotely before Anderson.
In addition to prison time, the judge sentenced Harris to four years of probation and ordered him to pay $3,600 in restitution for the victim’s funeral expenses. If Harris were to violate the terms of his probation, he could be sent back to prison for the remainder of his sentence.
Harris has been held without bail at the Penobscot County Jail since his arrest in September 2021 in New York. That time will be applied to his sentence.
On the manslaughter charge, Harris faced up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000. If he had been convicted of murder at a trial, Harris would have faced between 25 years and life in prison.