VIDEO FROM THE SCENE ON OCTOBER 5, 2024:
POUGHKEEPSIE — Thomas Case, 53, went on trial Monday in Dutchess County Court, charged with murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the shooting death of Anthony Cuozzo, 20, on October 5, 2024.
Cuozzo and his younger sister, Abigail, were both diagnosed with Autism at an early age.Case of Pleasant Valley is accused of shooting Cuozzo, his girlfriend’s son, four times from behind.
Opening statements were delivered on Monday afternoon.
According to the District Attorney’s Office, Case allegedly shot Cuozzo twice in the back, once in the arm and once in the side. Authorities said the shooting followed an argument in which Cuozzo reportedly stabbed Case in the chest.
The prosecutor, Anthony DeFazio, said that Cuozzo called 911 to report the stabbing as he walked down the 100-yard-long driveway to wait for his grandmother to pick him up. Cuozzo was on the phone with the 911 operator, DeFazio said, when the shots rang out.
After Cuozzo fell to the ground, DeFazio said the defendant can be heard on the recording. “He said, to a dying man lying on the road,” DeFazio told the jury, “You thought you could fucking kill me,” before walking back to his car and placing the Glock pistol on the roof. “This shooting was in no way justified,” DeFazio stated.
The defense told jurors that Case was also a victim in the incident and argued that Cuozzo had a history of troubling behavior at the Rawls Road residence earlier that evening.
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