Tyler Flach (left) stabbed Khaseen Morris to death in a fight in September 2019. (Screenshot of Flach: WABC; screenshot of Morris via @rememberingkhaseen)
Tyler Flach, the man convicted of murdering 16-year-old Khaseen Morris because the victim walked a girl home from a party, will potentially spend the rest of his life in prison.
“Khaseen Morris was intelligent, friendly and had a smile that could light up a room,” Nassau County (New York) District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly said. “The young man was only 16 years of age and had recently transferred to a new high school, where he was making friends. The defendant, angry that Morris had walked a girl home, organized a group and went to a local strip mall with the intention of attacking Morris.”
The girl was the ex-girlfriend of another teenager. Flach was described as an “associate” of the ex-boyfriend involved.
Flach was sentenced Tuesday to 25 years to life in prison.
According to prosecutors, Flach — now 22 years old, but then 18 — and his group exited his vehicle and attacked Morris and several of the victim’s friends during an after-school fight outside of a strip mall. He stabbed Morris in the heart and broke another teenager’s arm, authorities said. Doctors at Mount Sinai South Nassau tried to save Khaseen but to no avail.
“Tyler Flach stabbed Morris in the chest and took the young man’s life,” the DA said.
Morris, a new transfer to Oceanside High School, had been going to school there for only 10 days.
Flach was convicted in trial last year for murder in the second degree, gang assault in the first degree, assault in the the third degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree. The defense maintained that he did not mean to kill Morris. Jurors, who had the option to go with a lesser manslaughter charge, sided with the state.
“This was an incredibly senseless murder and I thank our prosecutors, the Nassau County Police Department detectives and the jurors who sat on this trial, for carefully reviewing the evidence,” the DA said. “We continue to stand with Khaseen’s family, friends, and community as they mourn his tragic loss.”
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