(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Philip Walker, 58, of Mastic, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty in February to Manslaughter in the First Degree for fatally stabbing his housemate, 63-year-old Jimmy Vaughn, three times with a knife.
“Today’s 20-year sentence reflects the gravity of this senseless violent act. While the defendant’s guilty plea acknowledges responsibility for his actions, it does not diminish the tragedy of a life cut short,” said District Attorney Tierney. “Justice requires that we hold all individuals accountable for their violent actions and this sentence ensures just that.”
According to court documents and the defendant’s admissions during his guilty plea allocution, on June 30, 2023, at approximately 5:00 p.m., Walker stabbed Vaughn inside a room at the Shirley Motel on Montauk Highway. When paramedics arrived, Vaughn was found outside of room, bleeding from the left side of his chest and abdomen. He was taken to Long Island Community Hospital, where doctors attempted but failed to repair the hole in his heart. Vaughn was pronounced dead at approximately 6:20 p.m.
Walker fled from the motel after the incident, but Suffolk County Police officers arrested him on July 2, 2023, at a family member’s home in North Amityville.
On February 14, 2025, Walker pleaded guilty before Acting Supreme Court Justice Karen M. Wilutis to Manslaughter in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony.
On April 14, 2025, Justice Wilutis sentenced Walker to 20 years in prison. He was represented by Eric Besso, Esq.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Dena Rizopoulos of the Homicide Bureau, and the investigation was conducted by Detective David Gelsomino of the Suffolk County Police Department’s Homicide Squad.
