Cell phone murderer gets 35 to life in prison

A judge has sentenced Dominick Davis to 35 years to life in prison for the 2012 murder of Riverdale resident Hwang Yang.

Last month, a jury found Mr. Davis guilty of fatally shooting Mr. Yang at the corner of West 232nd Street and Cambridge Avenue as he walked home from work. The murder of the young man, apparently for his iPhone, shocked residents at the time. The trial of the other suspect in the case, Alejandro Campos, is scheduled to begin on Monday, Jan. 18.

Mr. Yang’s sister Sunah Yang described the devastation his death has brought her family in an emotional statement before the court on Tuesday.

“It’s been over three years, and I still feel the pain in my heart,” she said. “After my brother passed away, a huge emptiness and the sorrow took his place and have set upon our family.

“The image of my brother lying on the cold cement floor on April 19th comes into my mind and makes me want to scream and I burst into tears,” she continued. “I think about how [scared] he was, how [frightened] he must have been when the gun was pointing right at him… I desperately want my brother back if I can change the time.”

Judge Ethan Greenberg strongly admonished Mr. Davis, who is about 24 , for the crimes before issuing a term of 25 years to life for second-degree murder with intent to kill and a term of 10 years to life for second-degree weapon possession.

He said a Tuesday statement from Mr. Davis and his previous videotaped confession to killing Mr. Yang — the lynchpin of Assistant District Attorney Theresa Gottlieb’s case — showed the perpetrator did not understand how terrible his crime was.

The judge added it was hard to believe Mr. Davis killed someone over an iPhone.

Mr. Davis is eligible for parole once his 35-year sentence, which will be counted from the time of his arrest in 2012, is complete. On Tuesday, he gave a brief statement saying he was sorry for what happened, calling his crime a senseless act.

He was acquitted of charges stemming from a related alleged crime. In opening statements in November, Ms. Gottlieb said Mr. Davis and Mr. Campos robbed a man at a gas station about a week before killing Mr. Yang.