A stepfather is accused of giving a gun to his stepson and instructing him to “do what he had to do” in a failed attempt to harm his nephew, resulting in the tragic death of an innocent teenager in Westchester County, as per prosecutors.
Phillip Ferrill, the stepfather, allegedly provided a handgun to his 22-year-old stepson Tyrese Coghill, who then fatally shot Zyaire Fernandez while aiming at another individual in Mount Vernon last year, according to a report by lohud.com.
Assistant District Attorney Adrian Murphy stated in Westchester County Court that “But for this defendant providing that gun Zyaire Fernandez would be alive today,” as reported by the outlet.
Coghill has admitted to a murder charge and is cooperating against Ferrill, who now faces his own murder charge, according to reports.
Prosecutors revealed that the tragic incident occurred in March last year while Coghill was assisting Ferrill in moving to an apartment in Yonkers.
They explained that a group of three teenagers, including Fernandez and Ferrill’s nephew, confronted Coghill on the street, wielding a knife and a gun.
At that moment, Ferrill arrived and engaged in a heated argument with his nephew, whom he had previously accused of stealing from him, Murphy informed the court.
Following the altercation, Ferrill allegedly retrieved a 9mm semi-automatic pistol from a lockbox in his apartment, handed it to his stepson, and instructed him to “do what he had to do” – implying that he should eliminate his nephew, authorities alleged.
Coghill located the teens on the street and opened fire at the nephew, unintentionally hitting Fernandez instead, according to the report.
The gun was purportedly discovered later in the oven of Ferrill’s apartment, with Murphy indicating that video evidence would exhibit him retrieving it from the apartment of his stepson’s girlfriend.
Ferrill is facing charges of second-degree murder, second- and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, hindering prosecution, and tampering with physical evidence.
