A Peekskill man who viciously beat a Westchester County case worker to death after she mistakenly knocked on his uncle’s door got a break when he was spared the maximum sentence.
Hasseem Jenkins, 33, was sentenced Thursday, Jan. 8, to 23 years to life in state prison for what Westchester Judge George Fufidio called the “savage” beating and stomping of Maria Coto, a social services employee who was planning retirement and universally recognized for her yearslong efforts to help Westchester families.
“Your uncontrolled rage at that time led to you committing horrendous acts upon this dedicated, beloved Westchester County social worker,” Fufidio said just before imposing the sentence. “You showed Maria Coto no mercy.”
But Fufidio showed Jenkins some, saying it was his job to balance the crime with Jenkins value as a father of three children and someone whose friends and relatives said deserved leniency.
Coto was going to see a client on May 14, 2024, when she mistakenly knocked on the apartment door of Jenkins’ uncle at 900 South St. Jenkins answered the door and began attacking Coto, who ran into another apartment across the landing.
Jenkins chased her into the apartment and continued the attack, grabbing Coto’s cell phone after she managed to call 911. The call was never disconnected and the dispatcher was able to hear as Jenkins cursed Coto as he beat her viciously.
By the time officers arrived the 56-year-old Coto lay motionless in a pool of blood.
Coto suffered catastrophic brain injuries that left her in a coma and was at Westchester Medical Center for weeks before being transferred to a Bronx facility where she died on June 19.
The defense maintained that Jenkins had not formed the requisite intent to commit the crimes because of involuntary intoxication, that he had been provided a cigarette he did not know had been laced with PCP.
‘Maria’s death shook us to the core’
Jurors struggled for more than three days with the legal definition of intent and eventually found Jenkins had not intended to kill Coto. On that murder charge they convicted him instead of first-degree manslaughter.
But they did convict him of second-degree murder under the theory that Jenkins killed Coto during the commission of a felony, in this case burglary, finding that he entered the second apartment with the intention of continuing to assault her.
In a victim impact letter read in court by Assistant District Attorney Nadine Nagler, Coto’s aunt Maria Gutierrez spoke of the victim’s dedication to family and clients and recalled how happy she was three days earlier when they met on Mother’s Day, how she was looking forward to retirement, had a new home and had fallen in love.
“This tragedy has been very difficult to deal with,” Gutierrez wrote. “I have experienced a lot of loss in my life but nothing like this.”
Linda Argiento, a manager with the Westchester Department of Social Services who supervised Coto for years, said she was “tiny but mighty” with a “big presence, a sharp wit and a bold personality” and that her desk continues to sit empty, her laughter missing from the hallways.
Argiento said DSS workers enter unfamiliar neighborhoods and unpredictable situations because they are committed to the work of protecting children and supporting vulnerable families.
“But Maria’s death shook us to the core,” she said. “Her murder made every one of us confront the fragility of our own safety.”
“All of us carry a heightened sense of vulnerability that did not exist before,” Argiento said. “The weight of knowing someone we cared about, someone strong, capable and experienced, lost her life simply by doing her job has changed the way we move through the world.”
Nagler, who prosecuted the case with Assistant District Attorney Kevin Jones, urged Fufidio to impose the maximum 25 years to life sentence. She said the most brutal aspect of the killing came when Jenkins stomped on the diminutive Coto with heavy boots at least 10 times after the neighbors told him not to follow Coto into the apartment. She said Jenkins’ history of misdemeanor convictions masked the violence he has often displayed.
Jenkins asks for forgiveness, defense asks for leniency
Jenkins expressed remorse to Coto’s family for what he called “a devastating and unthinkable situation” but continued to maintain that his actions had not been intentional. He asked for forgiveness but said he understood it might not be forthcoming.
His lawyer, Angelo MacDonald, said Jenkins deserved leniency as the videos of the aftermath of the beating and while he was in police custody showed an enraged, incoherent man who was quite different than the real Hasseem Jenkins standing before the judge Thursday.
“He’s expressed sorrow, remorse, regret for the loss of Ms. Coto’s life,” MacDonald said. “I believe he’s sincere.”
‘Maria Coto was a beacon of light’
More than two dozen colleagues of Coto’s were in the courtroom. Their CSEA Local 860 union held a memorial rally outside the courthouse afterwards where speakers including District Attorney Susan Cacace urged the passing of state legislation that protect caseworkers and stiffen penalties for those who assault them and other civil servants.
“Maria Coto was a beacon of light in Westchester County. She devoted her life to helping others in desperate circumstances, which included numerous trips into the field to meet clients where they lived. For that, she paid dearly,” Cacace said in a statement issued by her office. “Her savage murder is a reminder of the risks our county employees face daily when they go into the community.”
Hattie Adams, the local union vice president, said the union sought to honor Coto’s memory by resolving to prevent such tragedies by implementing security measures for frontline workers.
“Her life mattered. Her work mattered. Her death must mean something,” Adams said. “We refuse to let this tragedy fade into silence. We refuse to accept a world where the people who care for our most vulnerable are left unprotected.”
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Peekskill man spared maximum sentence in killing of Maria Coto
Reporting by Jonathan Bandler, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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