WHITE PLAINS, NY – A Mount Vernon man who stabbed another man to death during a violent confrontation in downtown White Plains last summer will spend the next 16 years in state prison following his sentencing Thursday in Westchester County Court.
Nathaniel Hill, 55, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in March for fatally stabbing 40-year-old Bernard Potillo of Yonkers in the abdomen on July 4 during an altercation. Supreme Court Justice James McCarty handed down the 16-year sentence, closing the book on what prosecutors described as a senseless killing that shattered a family’s future.
According to the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, Hill and Potillo were involved in a confrontation that escalated into violence near downtown White Plains. Potillo later died from the single stab wound.
At sentencing, Potillo’s longtime girlfriend, Caprisse Hall, delivered a victim impact statement describing the deep emotional toll of the killing. Hall told the court the couple had planned to build a life together, start businesses, and eventually marry.
“Our future was taken,” Hall’s statement read. “The life we were crafting together vanished in one devastating moment.”
District Attorney Susan Cacace called the case a “sad example of a senseless and tragic killing,” adding that she hopes the sentence brings some measure of closure to Potillo’s grieving family.
The case was investigated by White Plains police and prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Adrian Murphy and Violent Criminal Enterprise Bureau Chief James Bavero.
Hill has been held in custody since his arrest shortly after the incident.
Key Points
- Nathaniel Hill, 55, sentenced to 16 years for July 4 stabbing death of Bernard Potillo
- Potillo was stabbed once in the abdomen in White Plains and later died
- Victim’s girlfriend delivered emotional courtroom statement about shattered future
Fourth of July violence ends with prison sentence and heartbreak for a Yonkers family.
