Leader-Herald |
There were major developments in a pair of high-profile Schenectady murder cases in 2025, with Persia Nelson convicted of murder in October of the 2024 death of her 10-month old daughter Halo Branton and a long-awaited arrest made in the 2022 murder of 14-year-old Schenectady girl Samantha Humphrey.
Persia Nelson trial
Persia Nelson was convicted of murder in October, 19 months after her 10-month old daughter Halo Branton was left to die in a shed on the GE campus.
Nelson was found guilty on all charges in Schenectady County Court, with Nelson convicted of a felony charge of second-degree murder, depraved indifference to human life, a felony count of second-degree manslaughter and a misdemeanor count of endangering the welfare of a child.
Nelson faces 25 years to life in state prison when she is sentenced on Jan. 6.
The jury determined Nelson, 25, abandoned Branton on the GE campus on March 9, 2024.
Nelson allegedly dropped Branton eight feet into a pool of water inside of a utility shed on the GE campus. The girl died of exposure and hypothermia.
A GE security guard found Nelson sleeping in a building on GE campus on the evening in question, with Nelson telling authorities that her baby was missing, setting off an all-night search for Branton that eventually led police to the utility shed the next afternoon.
Arrest in Humphrey case
Two-and-a-half years after 14-year-old Schenectady girl Samantha Humphrey disappeared at Riverside Park, her unidentified former boyfriend was charged with her murder in May.
The male suspect was 14 at the time he allegedly strangled Humphrey to death after she told him that she was pregnant with his child. The suspect, who was not identified by prosecutors because he is underage, has been charged with second-degree murder after he allegedly killed Humphrey and disposed of her body in the Mohawk River on Nov. 25, 2022.
Humphrey went missing in the Stockade neighborhood of Schenectady just days before Thanksgiving in 2022 and her body was recovered from the Mohawk River nearby on Feb. 22, 2023.
In the years since Humphrey went missing and her body was subsequently recovered, her family has sought justice for the teen girl’s death, renting billboards on Erie Boulevard and Maxon Road offering a $20,000 reward for information on her death and starting a lawn sign campaign last year that requested anyone with information on her murder to contact the police.
The suspect is expected to go on trial in 2026.
Johnstown treasurer charged
Johnstown Treasurer Thomas Herr was charged in October with felonies alleging he falsified business records and stole more than $6,000 in payments made to the city.
Herr was arrested Oct. 21 and charged with third-degree grand larceny and first-degree falsifying business records, felonies; and official misconduct, a misdemeanor.
Mayor Amy Praught said Herr resigned that afternoon, and had been blocked from city hall and city finances since the investigation began in August.
Herr was uncontested for reelection, but voters instead decided to make the seat an appointed position.
The city had been notified by the New York State and Local Retirement System that it had missed more than $1.57 million in payments, resulting in $23,600 in fines. An internal review found envelopes in Herr’s office from residents making payments to the city, and that more than $6,000 was missing, though office records showed the funds had been deposited, police said.
Herr would take one payment for personal use, then use a later payment to replace the missing funds, police said.
Herr’s arrest was not the last of Johnstown’s legal troubles.
In December, Council Member Scott M. Jeffers, 42, a Johnstown High School teacher and coach, was accused of having inappropriate communications with a student.
The messages were “at times sexual in nature and discussed drug use and physical violence,” state police said. Jeffers was charged with one count of endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor.
Robert Green shooting death
One man was sentenced, one man was acquitted and one man sought to withdraw his plea in 2025 in connection with the shooting death of Robert Green in Amsterdam.
Green was shot outside of a relative’s home at 60 James St. in Amsterdam around 7:20 p.m. on Dec. 18, 2024. He died at Albany Medical Center.
Prosecutors say the shooting stemmed from a “beef” between Angel Morales and Green’s cousin. Morales, Freyland Sanyet and Jacob Baird were originally accused of going to the James Street home together to settle the dispute.
Baird, 25, was acquitted at trial of second-degree murder, first-degree gang assault and first-degree reckless endangerment in Montgomery County Court on Oct. 1. A charge of tampering with physical........