Drew Botsford was convicted after prosecutors described a one-shot killing inside a Bradley Road home.

MONTICELLO, N.Y. — A Sullivan County judge sentenced Drew Botsford to 25 years to life in state prison Friday for killing his 71-year-old father with a rifle inside their Neversink-area home in October 2023.

The sentence closed the main trial phase of a case that moved from a family argument at 39 Bradley Road to a five-day murder trial in Sullivan County Court. Botsford, 49, of Neversink, was convicted in March of second-degree murder, a Class A-I felony, in the death of Lloyd Botsford. Prosecutors said the shooting was intentional, sudden and supported by a confession, physical evidence and forensic testing.

Sullivan County Court Judge James R. Farrell imposed the sentence after jurors found Botsford guilty in the killing. District Attorney Brian P. Conaty said the punishment answered an act of violence that took place inside a home where the victim had been watching football. “This was a shocking and deeply disturbing act of violence in which a son intentionally took the life of the man who raised him,” Conaty said after sentencing. “No parent should ever have to fear harm at the hands of their own child.”

Prosecutors said the shooting happened at about 6 p.m. on Oct. 8, 2023, after Drew Botsford argued with his father. Trial evidence showed Botsford took a .22-caliber rifle from his father’s bedroom closet, found one .22-caliber round in the top drawer, loaded it into the chamber and walked down the hallway. Prosecutors said he then squatted near a bathroom door, aimed and fired once. The bullet struck Lloyd Botsford in the head while he sat on a love seat in the living room. Family members later found him unresponsive on the couch and called 911. Emergency responders tried life-saving measures, but he could not be revived.

The case did not end at the living room. Prosecutors said Botsford took about $1,668 in cash after the shooting and tried to leave the area. He placed his mother’s groceries into his aunt’s vehicle, which was parked on the side of the residence and outside the immediate police presence, then went to his uncle’s home and asked for the keys. His uncle refused. Botsford then hid in the rear hatch area of the aunt’s vehicle as officers and emergency workers were at the scene. Authorities said he accidentally locked himself inside and remained there while police searched the area and could not find him.

Investigators said the next morning brought the case back into view. At about 7:30 a.m., Botsford used a tire jack from the rear of the vehicle to break through the rear hatch window and get out. He then entered his aunt’s home. New York State Police were called back to the scene and took him into custody. After he was brought to a state police barracks, investigators interviewed him. Prosecutors said Botsford admitted he had argued with Lloyd Botsford, taken the .22-caliber rifle and shot his father once in the head.

Physical evidence helped prosecutors connect the account to the home. State police investigators obtained a search warrant and processed the Bradley Road residence. They found a spent .22-caliber shell casing outside a bedroom door, a location prosecutors said matched where Botsford admitted he had stood before firing. Investigators also found the rifle leaning against Lloyd Botsford’s bedroom dresser. The New York State Police Crime Laboratory later found Drew Botsford’s DNA on the forearm, stock, bolt and trigger areas of the firearm. Prosecutors said that pattern was consistent with someone holding the rifle in a shooting position. Lloyd Botsford’s DNA was excluded from those areas.

The trial lasted five days and was prosecuted by Chief Assistant District Attorney Michael J. Puma. Botsford was represented by Tim Havas, executive director of the Sullivan County Legal Aid Society. Farrell presided over the proceedings. The jury returned the guilty verdict on March 16, more than two years after the shooting. Prosecutors said Lloyd Botsford was a husband, father and friend to people in Sullivan County. Conaty said after the verdict that the victim had supported his son through struggles with addiction and that the killing came after what prosecutors described as repeated chances for the defendant to change course.

The defense has signaled that the case is not over. Havas told the Times Herald-Record that he planned to appeal the jury’s verdict and could not comment further. An appeal would move the case from the trial record in Sullivan County Court to a review of legal issues raised from the conviction or proceedings. The sentence still sends Botsford to state prison unless a court later changes the judgment. Prosecutors said the term of 25 years to life means he must serve at least 25 years before he can be considered for release by parole authorities.

The killing drew attention in Sullivan County because of the close family tie and the quiet setting described in court records. The district attorney’s office said the attack began with a verbal dispute, not a break-in, public fight or outside threat. The details presented at trial placed the victim in an ordinary living-room scene, seated on a love seat and watching football, when the shot was fired. Conaty said investigators, prosecutors and support staff worked through the confession, crime scene and forensic proof to secure the conviction.

Botsford is now under a state prison sentence of 25 years to life, while any appeal would proceed through the courts on a separate track. The next public milestone will be the filing or scheduling of appellate steps by the defense.

Author note: Last updated June 16, 2026.