DoorDash driver Alpha Barry at John Reilly’s Chester home on May 2, 2025.
GOSHEN – Opening arguments in the trial of alleged DoorDash shooter John Reilly III were heard on Monday in Orange County Court Judge Craig Brown’s courtroom.
Senior Assistant Orange County District Attorney Nicholas Mangold told jurors that Reilly, the Town of Chester’s Highway Superintendent, was a reckless gun owner who intentionally shot 24-year-old DoorDash delivery driver Alpha Barry. The victim had become lost when he arrived at the defendant’s home on Valerie Drive in the Town of Chester on May 2, 2025.
Reilly’s attorney, Thomas Kenniff, of the law firm Raiser, Kenniff & Lonstein, described his client as a hard-working man who was just trying to protect his family on the fateful night. Reilly faces attempted murder charges, which carry a maximum sentence of 25 years. He was also charged with two counts of assault and eight counts of criminal possession of a weapon.
“This case is not about Mr. Reilly waiting around on a Friday night waiting to make his first kill,” said Kenniff, who in 2023 convinced a jury to acquit Daniel Penny of criminally negligent homicide after he used a chokehold on an agitated New York City subway rider. “What this case is about is a husband and father who was trying to protect his family from what he believed was an imminent threat. The evidence shows that John Reilly never intended to harm Mr. Barry.”
Mangold described how Barry, who legally immigrated to the U.S. from Guinea and was learning to speak English, had become lost on Valerie Drive after his cell phone battery died. Barry arrived at the Reilly home with a bag of food, asking whether Reilly had placed the order. Kenniff said that Barry asked Reilly to come into his home to charge his phone, which the prosecution denies.
Reilly allegedly told the driver to leave his property. As the driver attempted to return to his vehicle after apologizing for arriving at the wrong address, Reilly allegedly came outside with a .45-caliber Glock pistol and fired a round into the front lawn.
As the victim tried to drive away, Reilly allegedly fired additional shots at the vehicle. One round pierced the car and struck the driver in the lower back, causing serious injuries. The victim underwent emergency surgery, during which more than two feet of his small intestine were removed. He took several months to recover.
Kenniff referred to Barry as a “victim” and called the incident “a tragedy” but added that Reilly never intended to shoot him.
“I will be asking you at the end of the trial not to compound this series of tragedies with an unjust conviction,” Kenniff said.
©Mid Hudson News
