Mark Dedaj sentenced to prison for killing his sister.

POUGHKEEPSIE — A Dutchess County man was sentenced Tuesday to 25 years in prison for the 2021 killing of his teenage sister in their Millbrook home.

Mark Dedaj, 34, pleaded guilty in January to first-degree manslaughter in the death of his sister, Maureen Nelson-Lanzo, 17, who prosecutors said was smothered with a pillow. Dutchess County Court Judge Jessica Segal also imposed five years of post-release supervision.

New York State Police began investigating the case, but former District Attorney Bill Grady’s office hesitated to classify the death as a homicide. When Anthony Parisi became district attorney in 2024, he worked with investigators to move the case forward.

After a January meeting among prosecutors, Dedaj’s attorney, investigators and the victim’s family, the district attorney’s office agreed to reduce the charge to manslaughter and recommend a 25-year sentence in exchange for a guilty plea.

“This was a brutal and deeply tragic act of violence within a family that resulted in the loss of a precious young life,” Parisi said in a statement. “For too long, this case went without action, and today’s sentence makes clear that justice will not be denied simply because time has passed.”

, and transferred from prison, where he was serving time for an unrelated assault, to a state mental health facility. He later was deemed competent after receiving counseling and medication.

After entering his guilty plea, Dedaj was returned to Eastern Correctional Facility until Tuesday’s sentencing. The state Department of Corrections will determine where he serves his sentence.


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