DA offering weapon plea despite murder charge in 2022 Duo Tapas bar killing in Yonkers

Westchester prosecutors are no longer confident they can prove that a man charged with murder in a fatal shooting at a Yonkers bar was the shooter.

Yaquba McGougain has been offered a deal that would send him to prison for eight years if he admits to only possession of a gun that was found near the scene where 22-year-old employee Antonio Antoine-Fils was killed and a bouncer was injured at Duo Tapas Bar & Lounge on Yonkers Avenue early on Feb. 6, 2022.

Both men were shot just inside the front door around 2 a.m. after patrons had been directed to leave the bar due to a fight.

McGougain, a Peekskill resident who was at the bar, remained on the scene. When the first officers arrived a witness pointed him and three others out as being involved in the shooting. According to court documents, McGougain stepped up and said he would address the issue for the group. He was then taken to police headquarters for questioning.

Another witness also told police that he had seen a man get a gun from a car parked near the bar shortly before the shooting and return it to the car afterwards.

A Taurus 9mm semi-automatic pistol was recovered from the car but it was not conclusively determined that it was the gun that shot the two victims.

McGougain pleaded not guilty the following month after he was indicted on charges of second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder, first degree assault and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

His statements at headquarters were suppressed following a hearing this year because he had initially told detectives he did not want to speak with them. According to court documents, he denied any involvement in the shooting. But when shown surveillance video of the man going to and from the car, he acknowledged that was him.

Plea negotiations in murder cases sometimes result in manslaughter convictions. But it is rare for prosecutors to get a murder indictment and agree to let a defendant plead only to a non-homicide charge.

Defense lawyer Joshua Martin declined to comment on the case.

McGougain, 31, remains held without bail at the county jail and has until July 24 to decide if he wants to accept the plea deal. The offer would be withdrawn if any new evidence surfaces supporting the top three charges.

All the charges are still pending. No details have been offered as to why prosecutors would consent to a plea that didn't involve the top charges. A spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office declined to comment.

The murder charge carries a minimum prison term of 15 years to life to a maximum of 25 years to life. The attempted murder and assault charges carry maximum terms of 25 years. If McGougain goes to trial just on the weapon charge and is convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.

Duo Tapas Bar & Lounge, which opened a decade earlier, had been the subject of numerous complaints from neighbors over the years. The state Liquor Authority immediately suspended its liquor license after the shooting and the license was cancelled seven weeks later and the business closed.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: McGougain offered weapon plea despite murder charge in Yonkers killing