86-year-old gets maximum prison sentence for deadly stabbing at Port Jervis assisted living facility
James Annear appeared in Orange County Court in a wheelchair and using oxygen as Judge Craig Stephen Brown sentenced him for second-degree manslaughter.
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An 86-year-old man believed to be one of the oldest defendants in recent Orange County history to be sent to state prison for a serious crime was sentenced Monday to the maximum term of 5 to 15 years for fatally stabbing a woman at a Port Jervis assisted living facility.
James Annear appeared in Orange County Court in a wheelchair and using oxygen as Judge Craig Stephen Brown sentenced him for second-degree manslaughter in the December 2025 death of 62-year-old Patricia Winters at The Sentinel of Port Jervis.
Annear previously pleaded guilty to the charge.
Authorities said Annear stabbed Winters in the neck following a verbal argument during which she spit in his face. Prosecutors said Annear then fell on top of Winters during an ensuing struggle.
“Ms. Winters deserved better, Judge,” the prosecutor said while asking for the maximum sentence.
Brown rejected Annear’s account that he “blacked out,” saying Annear’s statements to police “continued to evolve in order to make yourself look less and less culpable.”
“Based upon the facts and circumstances of this case, you do deserve the maximum sentence, and that is what you’re going to get,” Brown said before imposing the 5-to-15-year term.
When given an opportunity to address the court, Annear made a brief statement that appeared to reference his medication but was not intelligible.
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office told News 12 that a review of its available electronic records found Annear to be the oldest defendant in the county sentenced to state prison for a significant crime since at least 2003. Earlier records would require a manual review of paper files.
For comparison, the DA’s office identified Joseph Stacy, who was 77 when he was prosecuted in the 2002 shooting death of Michael Walter in Port Jervis and later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
There have been older defendants sentenced elsewhere in New York. An 88-year-old defendant was sentenced to life without parole in Brooklyn this year, while a 90-year-old man received a 17½-year state prison sentence in Erie County in 2010.
State police found Winters dead in a bedroom at The Sentinel on Dec. 13, 2025. Annear was found in the same room suffering from apparent self-inflicted stab wounds.
News 12 previously reported that former employees said Annear and Winters had been romantically involved. They also raised concerns about safety and oversight at the assisted living facility following the killing.
