‘He should be put to death.’ Orange County DA discusses guilty verdict in Newburgh triple homicide
Kaliek Goode-Ford stood trial for nearly two weeks in the 2020 deaths of a Town of Newburgh family. A jury found him guilty on all counts after deliberating for 90 minutes.
More Stories
Orange County District Attorney Dave Hoovler spoke exclusively to News 12 about Thursday’s jury verdict that found a Newburgh man guilty of a triple murder, which was one of the most violent crimes in county history.
Kaliek Goode-Ford stood trial for nearly two weeks in the 2020 deaths of a Town of Newburgh family. A jury found him guilty on all counts after deliberating for 90 minutes.
“Kaliek Goode-Ford is a savage killer who should never see the light of day and if there was a death penalty, he should be put to death,” says Hoovler.
The 35-year-old fatally shot husband and wife Jimmy and Shatavia Crisantos, as well as Shatavia’s 9-year-old son from a prior relationship, Giovani Tambito.
Hoovler says he hunted the children inside the family’s home on Route 300 after he killed their parents.
“This was a guy that would’ve killed everyone in that house if he had not run out of bullets,” says Hoovler. “The level of violence here is unspeakable.”
The couple’s 3-year-old was shot and survived. Hoovler says it is believed that the child used a pillow to try to buffer the five gunshots his tiny body sustained. The child’s 5-year-old sibling escaped unharmed.
Hoovler says prosecutors believe Goode-Ford intended to kill everyone in the house who was a witness.
“He knew they could identify him. If you sat in the courtroom for one minute and you saw any of the {crime scene} pictures in this case, you cannot say that this was not a savage crime. We had one of the children to come in, testify and was able to say Kaliek did it,” Hoovler says.
Hoovler says Goode-Ford tried to intimidate several witnesses following his arrest from jail and attempted to orchestrate the killing of one or more witnesses.
He says Goode-Ford knew the couple and their children and that the shooting was the result of a dispute.
Goode-Ford is facing life without parole when he is sentenced in March.
Hoovler says the case presented several challenges, including COVID-related delays, mental competency hearings and the unrelated death of several adult witnesses.
“I’m glad we were able to deliver justice in this case,” says Hoovler, “and for the Crisantos family.”
