New York’s Staten Island. A guy from Staten Island who was found guilty of killing someone at a party on the borough’s North Shore in 1994 has once again been denied early release by the New York State Board of Parole.
Ennis Michaels, a 60-year-old West Brighton resident and the petitioner, was found guilty of murder in 1996 and given a sentence ranging from 25 years to life in prison.
According to state records, after his most recent parole board interview and an evaluation of his request for discretionary release, he was refused parole last month.
In December 2025, he regains his eligibility.
Anthony Craft, 26, of Charleston, was shot in the chest following a fight that broke out in Tompkinsville about 1:30 a.m. near Bay Street and Victory Boulevard.
According to Advance reporting at the time, responding police officers took Michaels into custody a few minutes later.
Trial, parole hearing offer clues as to what happened
In a parole board interview in 2020, Michaels asserted that Craft was the aggressor.
According to an interview transcript, Michaels stated, “I just walked in, and I was asking him questions, and he pushed me.”
“Well, that’s how it’s going to be,” I said, and the gun went off. His push at the time caused the gun to accidentally discharge, just going off.
Michaels acknowledged that he had his hand on the revolver, but he said he had no idea why Craft had shoved him.
Some of the trial’s witness statements said that the men were fighting over money. Some claimed it was due to drugs.
Associate s murder
According to the transcript, Michaels was on parole at the time of the shooting because of a previous conviction for robbery.
He claimed that the reason he was carrying a gun at the time was because he was on edge following the murder of one of his associates a few months prior.
In 2020, he informed parole board members, “I wasn’t really doing well with parole because I was always looking over my shoulder thinking I was up next.” I felt that my life was in danger while I was at a party.
Because he was on parole, he also acknowledged giving police a phony identity. Enos Mitchell is another name for him.
Gunfire sent partygoers fleeing
According to the Advance, the victim, 26-year-old Anthony Craft, was shot and first thought to be in critical condition. Nine days later, he passed away.
At trial, five witnesses named Michaels, also known as Mitchell, as the shooter.
One man claimed to have been with the defendant until the shooting and to have saw him throw the gun in a Bay Street doorway just before police officers seized him.
Some of the people who testified at trial, including Officer Ralph Palma, told the jury that he and his partner first halted a group of people who had dispersed when the gun went off.
20 hearing leaves board unconvinced
In an interview with a parole board in 2020, Michaels expressed his want to be released from prison and prepared to reintegrate into society, so long as no one irritated him.
I am not a negative person. Michaels, who has a four-decade criminal past, stated, “I think I can maintain a positive attitude in society and seek employment if I’m not around these individuals who don’t provoke me to some type of confrontation.”
He stated, “My problem is that I feel I would be very successful without committing another crime if I could move to a different community where I’m not around people who let off the negativity which provokes me.”
The tribunal ultimately disagreed despite praising the inmate’s development as a person, programmatic accomplishments, and constructive use of time while confined.
They claimed that in addition to Michaels’ troublesome criminal and disciplinary record, there was a significant chance that he would abuse drugs if he were released.
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