Rockville Centre pair convicted of murder

Two Rockville Centre gang members will face up to 25 years to life in prison when they are sentenced on May 22 for the fatal shooting of a Yonkers woman, Sandra Hackley, 36, and the wounding of her husband, Rafael Cornielle, 31, and her 12-year-old daughter nearly two years ago.

As members from both the victims’ and defendants’ families watched, jurors in Westchester County Court returned guilty verdicts last Friday against Kasaun White, 29, of 21B Old Mill Court, and Charles Parsley, 28, of 19C Old Mill Court. They were convicted of second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault and first-degree burglary — all felonies.

An accomplice who was the alleged getaway driver, English Thomas, 28, of Lakeview, also a gang member and White’s cousin, will be tried separately. He was charged with two counts of second-degree murder, attempted murder, three counts of first-degree assault, first-degree burglary, two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and tampering with evidence.

“These defendants planned and carried out the murder of a woman, the shooting of her husband and 12-year-old daughter, then calmly left the crime scene and were driven off, all as residents in the community were in and around the area,” said Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore after the verdicts were announced. “The meticulous crime scene analyses, aggressive follow-up on numerous leads and shoe-leather investigative work by detectives from the Yonkers Police Department are what led to these two defendants, their subsequent arrests and today’s convictions.”

Prosecutors, who acknowledged that they are still uncertain of the motive for the shootings, said that on April 21, 2010, shortly before 7:30 p.m., Hackley, a marketing professional who worked in New Hyde Park, arrived at the Yonkers Avenue apartment she shared with her husband and two daughters. Shortly thereafter, White, dressed as a UPS deliveryman, was recorded on video surveillance entering the building. Parsley was caught by cameras pacing in the lobby and hiding near the victims’ apartment before both Hackley and White arrived.