Shanli Lohas

May 1, 2023

Albany man pleads guilty to fatal stabbing of ex-girlfriend in midst of murder trial, agrees to take maximum sentence Suffolk County Homicide Squad detectives investigate the fatal stabbing on Harford Drive in Coram on Oct. 23, 2021, where a woman, later identified as Meghan Kiefer, 27, was found dead on her front lawn. Credit: Stringer News By Grant Parpan grant.parpan@newsday.com Share An Albany man, faced with "the realization of the evidence against him," took the unusual step of pleading guilty and accepting a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison, just hours into his murder trial in Riverhead Monday. Kason Parker, 35, who was on trial in the October 23, 2021 front yard stabbing death of former girlfriend Meghan Kiefer in Coram, changed his plea as prosecutors planned to play for the jury dashboard camera footage that captured him confessing to a friend in the moments after the killing. "I did not expect that to happen today," Parker's court-appointed defense attorney Joseph Hanshe of Sayville said of the plea, outside the courtroom. "We were encouraging him [to plead guilty], with the evidence that we looked at, however, it's his decision." Hanshe said the defense had asked for a deal of 22 years in prison, but after prosecutors balked at the offering, Parker agreed to plead guilty to the charge of second-degree murder and accept the maximum sentence from Suffolk Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei. Hanshe told the judge his client elected to take the plea because of the "realization of the evidence against him." Pleading guilty to charges that call for the maximum sentence is very unusual. In most cases, guilty pleas involve pleading to lesser charges as an incentive for avoiding trial. In changing his plea, an, at times, defiant Parker, admitted to stabbing and killing Kiefer, but disputed some of the details in questions being asked of him by Assistant Suffolk County District Attorney Eric Aboulafia. Parker was relunctant to admit Kiefer had ended their relationship or that he didn't like it when she did so. "Yeah and no," Parker said to Aboulafia asking if he didn't like hearing that Kiefer wanted him out of the house. "Well you took the knife that I'm holding in my hand and you stabbed her to death with it," Aboulafia said as he lifted the murder weapon. "Yes," Parker said. Mazzei said he will sentence Parker to 25 years to life in prison May 31. "[The trial] didn't get as far as we thought it would," the judge told the jury of six men and six women as he dismissed them from their service. "Her end should have never been this, but justice had been served," Kiefer's grandmother, Barbara Leeds, said outside the courtroom. "I'm glad [Parker] came to his senses." Following opening arguments, the jury heard the 911 call by a friend of Kiefer's who had witnessed the killing, and testimony from an EMT and a trauma doctor. The change of plea occurred just as the afternoon session, which would have included video evidence and photographs from the morgue, was about to begin. Aboulafia had told the jury during his opening argument that the evidence would have included the dashboard recording of Parker speaking on the phone with a friend, saying “it’s over with” and he “stabbed her mad times, bro” moments after the alleged Saturday afternoon killing. “Those are the words of a killer,” Aboulafia said, adding that other recorded admissions included that he had “to go somewhere” and there was “blood all over.” Parker was located by police the following day on a New York City bus headed for North Carolina. When asked by Aboulafia if he was trying to evade police, Parker said he was "planning a vacation" when he boarded the bus. Kiefer, 27, was found stabbed 54 times in the front yard of her grandmother’s home on Hartford Drive, where a friend had called police to notify them of the stabbing, Aboulafia told the jury. She was pronounced dead soon after at Stony Brook University Hospital with stab wounds to her head, neck and torso, injuring her brain, left lung, right jugular vein and spleen, Aboulafia said. The eyewitness to the attack gave both a vehicle description and a partial license plate investigators used to locate Parker’s car two days later in the parking lot of a Pumpkin Farm in Dix Hills, Aboulafia said. Inside the car was a knife and the clothes Parker was allegedly wearing at the time of the attack, the prosecutor said. “In his wake, [Parker] left a treasure trove of evidence in his vehicle,” the prosecutor remarked. All three items tested positive for blood, Aboulafia said, and the knife contained DNA matches for both Kiefer and Parker, who cut his hand during the attack, prosecutors said. Aboulafia said Parker and Kiefer had met and began dating when they both lived in Albany and she had recently moved back to Long Island, where she was staying at her grandmother’s house. An Albany man, faced with "the realization of the evidence against him," took the unusual step of pleading guilty and accepting a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison, just hours into his murder trial in Riverhead Monday. Kason Parker, 35, who was on trial in the October 23, 2021 front yard stabbing death of former girlfriend Meghan Kiefer in Coram, changed his plea as prosecutors planned to play for the jury dashboard camera footage that captured him confessing to a friend in the moments after the killing. "I did not expect that to happen today," Parker's court-appointed defense attorney Joseph Hanshe of Sayville said of the plea, outside the courtroom. "We were encouraging him [to plead guilty], with the evidence that we looked at, however, it's his decision." Hanshe said the defense had asked for a deal of 22 years in prison, but after prosecutors balked at the offering, Parker agreed to plead guilty to the charge of second-degree murder and accept the maximum sentence from Suffolk Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei. Hanshe told the judge his client elected to take the plea because of the "realization of the evidence against him." Pleading guilty to charges that call for the maximum sentence is very unusual. In most cases, guilty pleas involve pleading to lesser charges as an incentive for avoiding trial. Sign up for the Suffolk news this week newsletter The biggest news, politics and crime stories in Suffolk County, in your inbox every Friday at noon. Sign up By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy . In changing his plea, an, at times, defiant Parker, admitted to stabbing and killing Kiefer, but disputed some of the details in questions being asked of him by Assistant Suffolk County District Attorney Eric Aboulafia. Parker was relunctant to admit Kiefer had ended their relationship or that he didn't like it when she did so. "Yeah and no," Parker said to Aboulafia asking if he didn't like hearing that Kiefer wanted him out of the house. "Well you took the knife that I'm holding in my hand and you stabbed her to death with it," Aboulafia said as he lifted the murder weapon. "Yes," Parker said. Mazzei said he will sentence Parker to 25 years to life in prison May 31. "[The trial] didn't get as far as we thought it would," the judge told the jury of six men and six women as he dismissed them from their service. "Her end should have never been this, but justice had been served," Kiefer's grandmother, Barbara Leeds, said outside the courtroom. "I'm glad [Parker] came to his senses." Following opening arguments, the jury heard the 911 call by a friend of Kiefer's who had witnessed the killing, and testimony from an EMT and a trauma doctor. The change of plea occurred just as the afternoon session, which would have included video evidence and photographs from the morgue, was about to begin. Aboulafia had told the jury during his opening argument that the evidence would have included the dashboard recording of Parker speaking on the phone with a friend, saying “it’s over with” and he “stabbed her mad times, bro” moments after the alleged Saturday afternoon killing. “Those are the words of a killer,” Aboulafia said, adding that other recorded admissions included that he had “to go somewhere” and there was “blood all over.” Parker was located by police the following day on a New York City bus headed for North Carolina. When asked by Aboulafia if he was trying to evade police, Parker said he was "planning a vacation" when he boarded the bus. Kiefer, 27, was found stabbed 54 times in the front yard of her grandmother’s home on Hartford Drive, where a friend had called police to notify them of the stabbing, Aboulafia told the jury. She was pronounced dead soon after at Stony Brook University Hospital with stab wounds to her head, neck and torso, injuring her brain, left lung, right jugular vein and spleen, Aboulafia said. The eyewitness to the attack gave both a vehicle description and a partial license plate investigators used to locate Parker’s car two days later in the parking lot of a Pumpkin Farm in Dix Hills, Aboulafia said. Inside the car was a knife and the clothes Parker was allegedly wearing at the time of the attack, the prosecutor said. “In his wake, [Parker] left a treasure trove of evidence in his vehicle,” the prosecutor remarked. All three items tested positive for blood, Aboulafia said, and the knife contained DNA matches for both Kiefer and Parker, who cut his hand during the attack, prosecutors said. Aboulafia said Parker and Kiefer had met and began dating when they both lived in Albany and she had recently moved back to Long Island, where she was staying at her grandmother’s house. By Grant Parpan