New York Woman Sentenced to 135 Months for Perjury in Arson Investigation
ALBANY, NEW YORK – Jennica A. Duell, age 28, of Schenectady, New York, was sentenced today to 135 months in prison for providing false testimony before a grand jury investigating the May 2013 fire that killed three of her children and their father, as well as seriously injured a fourth child.
The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and Charlie J. Patterson, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) New York Field Division.
‘Jennica Duell’s perjuries were the most reprehensible imaginable – detailed falsehoods about an arson homicide that killed the defendant’s own young children and their father and crippled the federal criminal investigation to hold accountable those responsible,’ said U.S. Attorney Richard S. Hartunian. ‘Five times over five weeks, Duell said she was present when the fire was set by her boyfriend, even recounting how she said “yes” when he asked if she wanted to be free before setting the blaze. Eight months later, she testified that her prior statements and testimony were false and said she and her boyfriend were never there. My office and our law enforcement partners remain fully committed to uncovering the truth and securing justice for the victims of this heinous act.’
‘On the night of May 2, 2013, David Terry, 32, Layah Terry, 3, Michael Terry, 2, and Donavan Duell, 11 months old, lost their lives. Sa’fyre Terry, then 5, survived through the actions of her father, but suffered severe burns. The children’s mother, the defendant, Jennica Duell, when confronted with the horror of that crime, betrayed them and this community by obstructing and impeding the criminal investigation rather than telling the truth,’ said ATF Acting Special Agent in Charge Charlie J. Patterson. ‘Sa’fyre will have to live the rest of her life with the injuries of that night; the defendant will only have to live with the repugnance and moral turpitude of her character.’
As part of her May 16, 2016 guilty plea, Duell admitted that she made irreconcilably contradictory statements under oath before a grand jury conducting an investigation into the May 2, 2013 arson at 438 Hulett Street in Schenectady, New York, which caused the deaths of David Terry and three young children, seriously injured another child, and destroyed the building and the personal property inside.
Duell’s testimony about the events of May 2, 2013 included the following: Sometime after 3 a.m., she, her boyfriend, and two other men traveled from Saratoga Springs to Schenectady so that her boyfriend could confront David Terry, the father of her children. They stopped at a gas station and filled up a gas can. Then they went to the house at 438 Hulett Street, where her boyfriend grabbed the gas can and poured some gas into a water bottle, walked over to the house, and poured gas in the hallway and up the stairs. Duell asked what he was doing, said “don’t do this,” and “my babies are in there,” and her boyfriend said “they are not going to get hurt.” After he lit the fire, Duell “saw the flames” and “wanted to get in there . . . but he wouldn’t let me.” Before her boyfriend poured the gas and set the fire, he said to Duell, “do you want to be free?” Duell said “yes.”
The memory of the victims who perished, and the will of Sa’fyre to live, strengthen our resolve to ensure that justice is done. Duell’s sentencing today, though justly deserved, is only a small victory in light of the greater task at hand.
U.S. Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will continue to work tirelessly to uncover the truth and bring those responsible for this heinous act to justice.
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Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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