Jury deliberating fate of Tyler Flach, accused of killing 16-year-old Khaseen Morris in Long Island strip mall fight
MINEOLA, N.Y. -- Three years after a deadly teen brawl at a Long Island strip mall, the jury is now deliberating the fate of Tyler Flach.
Flach fatally injured 16-year-old Khaseen Morris, and he doesn't deny that, but as CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff reports, he argues that he didn't intend to kill.
Tuesday was an emotional day for Khaseen's family after a two-week trial. There were tears in court listening to summations, the defense arguing Khaseen's 2019 death was not murder but an unintentional reckless act.
"Reckless because when you have a knife in your hand and you're throwing so many punches, something like this could happen," defense attorney Edward Sapone said.
READ MORE (10/21/2019): More Charges Filed Against Tyler Flach In Stabbing Death Of Khaseen Morris
There's no argument Tyler Flach dealt the fatal injury, but at issue for the jury is his intent. His attorney argued Flach threw punches and punches with a knife in his hand and one went awry.
"Tyler Flach had no reason to intentionally take the life of this young man ... Oone of punches very sadly pierced the chest of this man, only half a length of the knife," Sapone said.
It was a teenaged brawl caught on camera. The trial included 10 minutes of cell and surveillance video covering a 51-second melee in an Oceanside strip mall, where 16-year-old Khaseen "lost his life over nonsense," prosecutors told the jury.
A warm-hearted student, Khaseen had walked a girl home from school, prompting a jealousy-fueled brawl.
"It's murder and it's nothing else," prosecutors argued, saying Flach "chose to cover his face" and "armed himself with a knife." They added, "The intent when you plunge a knife into the part of the body that allows you to live is murder."
Khaseen's relatives vowed from the start to be at the trial through difficult testimony.
"It's hard to see, to hear him kind of diminish impact of the pain he's causing the family," said Kameel Gayle, a relevant of the victim.
"It's heart-wrenching to sit in there with the person that murdered my brother," said Keyanna Morris, Khaseen's sister.
Prosecutors asked the jury to hold Flach accountable. Intent to kill in this case means everything. The jury is weighing intentional murder and lesser manslaughter charges.
Flach, who is now 21 years old, has been behind bars for three years and could spend the rest of his life there if convicted of murder. If convicted instead of manslaughter, the penalties start at five to fifteen years.
Six of the other defendants in the brawl pleaded guilty to lesser charges in the attack. Charges are still pending against one other defendant.