Curtis Henry, 44, of Verona, New York, was fatally shot on the evening of September 29, 2023, after an argument with a man he knew, 47-year-old James Beard of Utica. The confrontation occurred around 8 p.m. on the 100 block of Boyce Avenue in Utica. Prosecutors say Henry first introduced a gun into the dispute and that Beard shot him at least once. Henry was taken to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, where he died from his injuries.

The Utica Police Department, assisted by METRO SWAT members from the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office and the New Hartford Police Department, located and arrested Beard early the next morning without incident. Beard was initially charged with second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and later pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree manslaughter as part of an agreed sentence. At sentencing in May 2024, Henry’s mother and girlfriend addressed the court; the judge sentenced Beard to three to nine years in state prison.

Henry’s family remembered him as a hard-working, humorous, and devoted father, brother, and uncle. If anyone has information about the events on Boyce Avenue that night, please come forward.