A man already serving 20 years to life for killing a 14-year-old boy in East Harlem will now spend up to 50 years to life behind bars after admitting he smuggled weapons into a youth lockup and tried to slash another inmate's throat. Jiniye Hooks, now 21, pleaded guilty in Orange County Court on October 7 to assault, attempted assault, promoting prison contraband and criminal possession of a weapon for a string of violent incidents at Goshen Secure Center.
Hooks was sentenced this week to just under another 10 years on top of his existing murder sentence, according to Mid Hudson News. Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler said the new 9-to-11-year term runs consecutively to Hooks' existing 20-years-to-life murder sentence, a stacking requirement that pushes his potential incarceration out as far as 50 years to life, according to the Hudson Valley Post. In Hooks' case, the consecutive term pushes his potential incarceration out as far as 50 years to life.
A Scalpel, Then a Blade Hidden in a Pen Cap
The case against Hooks stretches back to January 2025, when he was found in possession of a medical scalpel while incarcerated at Goshen Secure Center. Months later, he used a ceramic blade concealed inside a pen cap to try to slash another inmate's neck and face, with a staff member stepping in to intervene, the Hudson Valley Post reported. Hooks ultimately pleaded guilty to charges tied to the scalpel and pen-cap blade incidents.
Goshen Secure Center is a state-run youth facility in Orange County operated by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services for male juvenile offenders convicted of violent felonies in adult court, and residents can remain in OCFS custody until age 21, per the agency. The new term runs consecutively to Hooks' existing murder sentence.
The East Harlem Murder That Started It All
Hooks' underlying conviction traces back to a daylight shooting outside an East Harlem deli in July 2022. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder and was sentenced in December 2024 in Manhattan Supreme Court to 20 years to life, according to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. The victim, 14-year-old Justin Streeter, was shot in the back of the head while visiting his grandparents in Harlem, after his family had moved to New Jersey specifically to escape local gun violence, per CBS New York. Investigators treated the shooting as a case of mistaken identity in contested gang territory.
A second victim in that 2022 shooting, a 15-year-old boy, was struck in the leg while fleeing and survived by taking shelter in a nearby building lobby, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office said. Hooks fired multiple shots into a crowd as the two teenagers ran for safety. He was 19 at the time of his murder sentencing.
A Facility Already Under Scrutiny
Hooks' weapons case adds to a run of troubling headlines out of Goshen Secure Center. In September, a 22-year-old employee there was arrested by New York State Police on felony rape and contraband charges, accused of sexual misconduct with a 20-year-old resident and smuggling contraband into the facility, Hoodline previously reported. New York State law prohibits incarcerated individuals from legally consenting to sexual contact with staff.
Earlier in 2026, the Legal Aid Society filed a federal class-action lawsuit against the Office of Children and Family Services alleging that youth at Goshen were subjected to unlawful solitary confinement during facility lockdowns, for as long as 23 hours a day, according to City Limits. The suit claimed those lockdowns routinely restricted residents' access to educational and recreational services, painting a picture of a facility already straining under security and oversight problems well before Hooks' sentencing this week formally sent him into the adult prison system to begin serving out his stacked terms.
