Jury Selection Begins in Chester DoorDash Shooting Case Against John Reilly

Jury selection opened Friday morning in Judge Craig Brown's courtroom at Orange County Court in Goshen for the trial of John J. Reilly III, the Town of Chester's highway superintendent, who is charged with attempted murder and other felonies for allegedly shooting a 24-year-old DoorDash driver outside his Valerie Drive home last spring.

Reilly, 48, has pleaded not guilty to a 13-count indictment that includes attempted murder, two counts of assault, and eight counts of criminal possession of a weapon. The attempted murder charge alone carries a maximum sentence of 25 years. Jury selection is expected to take several days before opening statements begin.

Prosecutors allege that on the evening of May 2, 2025, a DoorDash driver approached the Reilly home carrying a bag of food, his phone battery dead, asking whether Reilly had placed the order. The driver, a West African immigrant living in Middletown who spoke limited English, had become lost while trying to complete a delivery and had stopped at several other homes on Valerie Drive before reaching the Reilly property, identifying himself as a DoorDash worker and explaining that his navigation system wasn't working properly, according to State Police Capt. Joseph Kolek.

Prosecutors say Reilly told the driver to leave. As the driver walked back to his car, Reilly allegedly emerged from the home with a .45-caliber Glock pistol and fired a round into the front lawn. When the driver attempted to drive away, Reilly allegedly fired additional shots at the vehicle. One round pierced the car and struck the driver in the lower back. The driver underwent emergency surgery during which more than two feet of his small intestine were removed. The Chronicle newspaper, which identified the victim as Alpha Barry, reported that his family said he "will never be the same."

Reilly remains out on bail, required to wear an ankle monitor and surrender his passport while awaiting trial.

His wife, Selina Nelson-Reilly, faces separate charges of hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence. Prosecutors allege that after speaking with investigators, she deleted 17 videos from the couple's doorbell camera and later texted a friend saying she had permanently deleted the footage. She is due back in court next month, with a possible trial date in May.

Reilly's defense attorney, Thomas Kenniff of the firm Raiser, Kenniff & Lonstein, said the evidence will vindicate his client. "We look forward to having the case presented to a fair and impartial jury of Mr. Reilly's peers," Kenniff said. "We remain confident that once the full picture of the circumstances confronting Mr. Reilly on the night in question is known, the reasonableness of his actions will be apparent, and Mr. Reilly will be found not guilty." Kenniff drew national attention in 2023 when he secured an acquittal for Daniel Penny on criminally negligent homicide charges stemming from a chokehold death on a New York City subway.

The case has already drawn scrutiny over venue. At least one community member, responding to local coverage of the trial's start, argued that Reilly's position as an elected official warrants moving proceedings out of Orange County entirely.