Suffolk DA: Southampton man gets 25 years to life for murder

A Southampton man was sentenced to 25-years-to-life in prison for a 2019 fatal shooting on the Shinnecock reservation, Suffolk County prosecutors said.

Michael Gaines, 44, was convicted Jan. 27 of second-degree murder and two counts of burglary in the August 2019 shooting death of Mtundu Vanterpool, 43, following a three-week jury trial before Suffolk County Judge Timothy Mazzei, according to prosecutors Monday.

Gaines was also sentenced to 25 years each for the two counts of burglary, but the burglary and murder sentences will run concurrently, prosecutors said in a news release.

During trial, prosecutors said that five hours before the Aug. 16, 2019 shooting, Gaines attacked Vanterpool at a Holtsville gasoline station and then fled on foot. Vanterpool returned to the Shinnecock reservation and went to sleep next to his fiance, prosecutors said.

Shortly before 6 a.m., Gaines broke into the home where Vanterpool and his fiance lived, burst into their bedroom and shot him three times in the abdomen, prosecutors said. Vanterpool’s fiance called 911 and tried to save his life, but he died in her arms, prosecutors said.

Gaines fled after the shooting, but was caught two days later in Pitt County, North Carolina, prosecutors said.