On August 19, Westchester County District Attorney Miriam E. Rocah announced that Bronx resident Edmund Pennil was indicted for felony charges in connection with the 2017 death of 41-year-old Mount Vernon resident Tremayne Williams. The defendant’s arrest in November 2021 was the result of a joint investigation between the Mount Vernon Police Department, the FBI’s Westchester Safe Streets Task Force, and the Cold Case Bureau of the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office.
“We hope this is the beginning of some closure for Tremayne Williams’ family,” DA Rocah said. “We are grateful to the Mount Vernon Police Department for their collaboration and for never giving up on this case. This case is among more than a hundred that our Cold Case Bureau has been investigating since its inception last year. My office remains committed to bringing justice to victims of unsolved homicides, and their families.”
Pennil, 45, was indicted by a Westchester County Grand Jury for Manslaughter in the Second Degree and Leaving the Scene of an Incident Without Reporting a Death, both felonies. Pennil was arraigned in Westchester County Court on August 19, 2022.
It is alleged that on September 6, 2017, at approximately 6:20 a.m., Pennil hit Mr. Williams with his SUV on East Third Street in Mount Vernon, trapping him under the vehicle. It is further alleged that Pennil, knowing Mr. Williams was under the car, then drove over him and fled the scene. Mr. Williams was transported to Montefiore Mount Vernon Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The Mount Vernon Police Department arrested Pennil in the Bronx on November 10, 2021.
The case is before Judge Robert Neary in Westchester County Court, and is being prosecuted by Cold Case Bureau Chief Laura Murphy and Assistant District Attorney Annmarie Stepancic. Pennil is scheduled to appear again in court on November 18, 2022.
The charges against the defendant are merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
