Man acquitted of 2021 murder, manslaughter of Dutchess County teen
Nestor Ortiz-Ocampo had been charged in the fatal stabbing of an Arlington High School student after a football game.
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A verdict was reached Friday in the deadly stabbing of a teen from Dutchess County following four days of deliberations.
Nestor Ortiz-Ocampo was found guilty of criminal possession of a weapon but was acquitted of murder and manslaughter.
Ortiz-Ocampo had been charged in the fatal stabbing of an Arlington High School student after a football game.
Prosecutors said Ortiz-Ocampo attacked 16-year-old Quraan Smith in a melee just after a football game in September 2021, stabbing him in the heart and killing him.
Ortiz-Ocampo's attorneys say he was trying to escape the brawl when Smith confronted him and that he stabbed Smith in self-defense.
Since the maximum jail sentence for criminal possession of a weapon is one year, and Ortiz-Ocampo has been in jail for well over a year, the judge ordered his release from jail, which was on Friday.
Ortiz-Ocampo's father, Nestor Lopez-Ocampo, said his 20-year-old son will make a fresh start.
"I see a lot of good things. First thing is that he's going to move out of here, out of the state, to keep him safe. So that's probably what we're going to do," he said.
Smith's parents said they are disappointed with the verdict and the fact there were no Black people on the jury.
Ortiz-Ocampo still needs to show up to his sentencing Oct. 24 on the weapons conviction. That is when he may have to listen to victim impact statements.
