Paul Kutz, 53, was visiting his son at Marist College for parents’ weekend in October 2022. On the morning of October 2, Kutz was in the lobby of the Courtyard by Marriott in Poughkeepsie when an unrelated altercation began between a hotel guest and staff. A man staying at the hotel started firing a gun; Kutz was struck by a stray bullet and killed. Authorities described the shooting as a random and unprovoked act.

Two men staying in the same hotel room, Roy Johnson Jr. and Devin Taylor, were arrested at the scene. Johnson was identified as the shooter and charged with second-degree murder and weapon possession; investigators found materials for making explosive devices and manuals in the room. Taylor was charged with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon. Both men were also being investigated in connection with an earlier Poughkeepsie homicide.

Was anyone in the hotel that morning able to observe how the confrontation began or who else might have information about the two men staying in that room?