Man convicted of murder in 2024 shooting that killed Albany man

A Sullivan County man has been convicted of killing a man in Albany back in October.

A jury found Jonte Wunner, 26, of Monticello guilty of killing Mohammed Poquee at the Ida Yarborough Apartments at North Pearl Street, back on Oct. 20.

Poquee had multiple gunshot wounds, police said. He was pronounced dead at Albany Medical Center.

The trial started on Monday.

Central to the case was security camera footage. Prosecutors said it showed people drinking and dancing in the corridor as Wunner deejays by playing songs from his phone through a large portable speaker.

Poquee was at the other end of the corridor. He and Wunner got into an argument. Wunner stood up and pulled a handgun out of his waistband. Then he placed it in his coat pocket, as Poquee approached Wunner and his friend.
The men exchanged words and closed in on each other. Poquee lifted his palms up in a motion that seemed to indicate he is not armed, according to the Albany County District Attorney’s Office.

Wunner’s friend stepped in between the two men, and then Wunner pulled out the gun and fired five shots at Poquee, according to prosecutors.

Two of the shots hit Poquee, one in his arm and the other severing his carotid artery, prosecutors said.

Assistant District Attorney Ryan Carty said Wunner’s actions were reckless. There was a toddler crawling in the hallway and was nearly hit.

“He didn’t care about firing a handgun in a small hallway of a residential building where a child was standing right in his path,” Carty said.

Defense attorney Salvatore Russo claimed that Wunner perceived a threat and interpreted the hand gesture as hands moving around his waistband.

Wunner was convicted of second-degree murder, criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment.

He was acquitted on an additional count of criminal possession of a weapon in connection with a separate gun that police said he had on him.

Wunner faces up to life in prison when sentenced on June 30.