A Troy man convicted of shooting his own brother during a family dispute last year has been sentenced to 16 years behind bars, followed by five years of post-release supervision. Stafon Ferrell, now 31, was sentenced in Rensselaer County Court on seven concurrent counts stemming from the July 6, 2025 shooting at a 6th Avenue residence in Troy.
The sentencing came down across charges including second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and four counts of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, according to a press release from Rensselaer County. As first reported by WRGB, Ferrell was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Rensselaer County District Attorney Mary Pat Donnelly said the sentence reflects her office's commitment to holding individuals accountable for gun violence, while also praising the Troy Police Department's rapid response for preventing further tragedy during the incident, the county's release states. Assistant District Attorney Tim Feenan served as the lead prosecutor on the case, per the same release.
A Family Argument Turns Violent on 6th Avenue
The shooting occurred shortly before 6 p.m. on July 6, 2025, and police noted it stemmed from an escalating family argument, according to the county's statement. Troy Police patrol officers responding to the scene located Ferrell's 31-year-old brother in a stairwell at the residence suffering from a gunshot wound, as reported by Daily Voice.
Troy Fire Department paramedics rendered emergency medical aid at the scene before transporting the brother to a local hospital in critical condition, the outlet reported. Officers from the department's Third Platoon apprehended Ferrell, then 29, without incident in a nearby store parking lot shortly after patrol units broadcast a suspect description. He was later arraigned in Troy City Court and remanded to Rensselaer County Jail.
How the Sentence Fits New York's Sentencing Guidelines
Under New York State Penal Law §§ 110.00 and 125.25, attempted murder in the second degree is classified as a Class B violent felony, carrying a mandatory determinate state prison term ranging from 5 to 25 years, according to Lebedin Kofman LLP. Ferrell's 16-year term falls roughly in the middle of that statutory range.
New York Penal Law § 70.45 also requires judges to impose between two and one-half and five years of mandatory post-release supervision for defendants convicted of Class B violent felonies, the law firm notes. That provision accounts for the five years of supervision Ferrell will face once released from state custody.
Part of a Broader Push Against Gun Violence in Troy
The case lands amid a wider regional effort to curb gun violence in Troy. Rensselaer County received $255,629 under New York State's Gun Involved Violence Elimination, or GIVE, grant program for the July 2025 through June 2026 fiscal cycle, funding specialized probation field intelligence officers and joint crime reduction operations with the Troy Police Department, according to a certified packet from the Rensselaer County Legislature.
That funding followed a December 2024 state initiative that launched a $20 million targeted anti-gun violence program, selecting Troy as one of three upstate municipalities eligible for up to $2 million in annual community safety innovation grants, per the John Jay College Research and Evaluation Center. Local steering committees worked with state officials to develop youth and family safety plans under that program.
DA Donnelly's office has positioned itself at the center of these efforts. In June 2025, while serving as president of the District Attorneys Association of the State of New York, Donnelly advocated for state-level anti-gun violence initiatives and highlighted regional law enforcement coordination across 21 participating GIVE counties, according to the Office of the Governor of New York. The Ferrell case marks another conviction prosecutors are pointing to as evidence of that push in action, following a separate Rensselaer County case in which a Rensselaer woman also received 16 years for attempted murder in Albany.
