A man who was 18 when he gunned down a 22-year-old bicyclist in broad daylight on a downtown Poughkeepsie street, then fled across state lines, has been sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. Anthony Taylor was handed the sentence for the second-degree murder of Gabriel Mosca, a Hyde Park resident who was shot multiple times near Main and Garden streets around 5:20 p.m. on October 3, 2025.
Mosca was riding his bicycle through the intersection when he was struck by gunfire, according to witness accounts cited by the National Gun Violence Memorial, which noted that witnesses reported seeing two individuals flee the scene shortly after the shots were fired. Poughkeepsie police found Mosca suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, and he was pronounced dead at MidHudson Regional Hospital, according to Daily Voice.
Taylor evaded capture for nearly two weeks before he was arrested in Maryland on October 16, 2025, following a multi-state search that involved the FBI Safe Streets Task Force and the U.S. Marshals Service, per the same account. He was extradited back to New York and indicted on murder and weapons charges, and at his arraignment he was remanded without bail by Judge Jessica Segal in Dutchess County Court.
A Guilty Plea and the Mandatory Sentence
Taylor ultimately pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Dutchess County District Attorney Anthony Parisi announced the plea, stating that Taylor armed himself and intentionally killed Mosca in a public place where others could have been at risk, the outlet reported. Prosecutors said Taylor admitted to possessing a loaded pistol with intent to use it unlawfully and to intentionally shooting Mosca with that firearm.
Taylor received 20 years to life for the murder count, along with concurrent 3½-year prison terms for each weapons conviction. New York law sets a sentencing range of 15 to 25 years to life for second-degree murder; the judge selected a 20-year minimum term, according to Konta Georges & Buza P.C.
At the October 28, 2025, arraignment, Parisi had emphasized that the 5:20 p.m. shooting endangered multiple innocent bystanders, including county government employees working in the downtown area surrounding Main and Garden streets, according to Daily Voice. Taylor remained incarcerated at the Dutchess County Jail through his conviction and sentencing.
A Pattern of Regional Gun Violence
Taylor's case extends beyond the Poughkeepsie killing. He also faced separate criminal charges in Peekskill, New York, for allegedly firing a gun during an August 17, 2025, altercation near Main and Charles streets, as reported by iHeartMedia. The earlier incident illustrates a broader pattern of alleged gun violence involving the teen in the months before Mosca's death.
Firearms remain the third-leading cause of death among children and teens across New York State, with 78 percent of youth firearm deaths resulting from homicides, according to data compiled by EveryStat through 2024.
Poughkeepsie's Persistent Violence Problem
Poughkeepsie has struggled with gun violence well beyond this single case. The city recorded a violent crime rate of 73 per 10,000 residents in 2024, the second-highest in the Mid-Hudson Valley region behind Newburgh and far above the regional average of 14 violent crimes per 10,000 residents, according to Mid-Hudson Valley Community Profiles.
The city participates in New York State's Gun Involved Violence Elimination initiative, a state-funded program targeting 28 high-violence police jurisdictions that contributed to a 61 percent drop in state gun homicides in early 2026 compared to the year before, per 101.5 WPDH. New York's FY25 budget allocated $347 million toward statewide crime prevention and public safety initiatives.
Dutchess County prosecutors have continued to pursue lengthy sentences for gun crimes along the Main Street corridor. In April 2026, the District Attorney's Office secured a 10-year prison sentence against a 20-year-old convicted of first-degree violent assault for a separate shooting on Main Street.
