DoorDash shooter gets 17 years in Orange County court

Orange County Court sentenced John Reilly III to 17 years in prison on Monday, closing a Chester case that turned a routine DoorDash stop into a violent workplace attack. Judge Craig Brown also ordered five years of post-release supervision, after prosecutors had asked for 21 and 1/3 to 24 years. Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler said Reilly “deserves every minute” of the sentence.

The shooting happened outside Reilly’s Town of Chester home last May, when Alpha Barry, then 24, was trying to complete a delivery after getting lost on Valerie Drive. Barry, a native of Guinea who came to the United States in 2024, testified through a French interpreter that his iPhone 16 battery had died and that he had been working for DoorDash for only about a month. He said he was frightened by Reilly’s two dogs and asked only to charge his phone, not to enter the house.

According to trial testimony, Barry tried to drive away when Reilly fired. One round pierced Barry’s vehicle and struck him in the lower back. Barry later underwent emergency surgery, and doctors removed more than two feet of his small intestine. For gig workers who make late-night pickups and drop-offs across Orange County, the case underscored how quickly a normal delivery can become a life-threatening encounter.

Reilly was convicted on March 26 of assault in the first degree for depraved indifference, criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, assault in the second degree, and eight counts of criminal possession of a firearm. The jury did not convict him of intentional assault, removing attempted murder from the case at sentencing. He had faced up to 25 years in prison.

Investigators recovered a loaded .45-caliber Glock, a shoulder holster, casings, a projectile and seven additional illegally possessed pistols from the home under a search warrant. Police said Reilly held a federal firearms license but did not have a New York State pistol permit.

The fallout spread beyond the courtroom. On April 14, Selina Nelson-Reilly pleaded guilty to felony tampering with physical evidence and misdemeanor attempted tampering after prosecutors said she deleted 17 smart-doorbell videos that captured the shooting. Barry’s attorney said he was relieved the jury believed him, but remained haunted by the attack. Barry also filed a civil lawsuit against Reilly and the Town of Chester, while the town removed Reilly from his highway superintendent post after the conviction.