Long Island man acquitted in 1990 murder of Hofstra football coach

Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News on Jan 25, 2025

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NEW YORK — A Long Island man who spent spent decades in prison has been acquitted of the 1990 fatal shooting of a Hofstra assistant football coach.

“It’s about time,” 51-year-old Christopher Ellis told Newsday outside the courthouse on Friday. “From day one, I’ve been telling them I’m innocent and nobody’s been listening to me until today.”

Ellis was only 20 years old when he was accused of killing Joseph Healy during an early-morning robbery outside the Arby’s drive-thru in Hempstead near Hofstra’s campus.

According to court documents, Healy was eating with friends on Sept. 29, 1990 when he was approached by two men, one of whom pulled a gun and told them all to get up. The other man remarked, “Just do it” and then the gunman shot Healy in the face.

Ellis and two others were arrested four months later during a Freeport drug sting, Newsday reported. Police said they were targeting a drug dealer when investigators recognized the men from composite sketches.

In 1993, Ellis was found guilty of second-degree murder and attempted robbery, though he has long maintained his innocence. He has said he was DJing his brother’s party when the deadly shooting unfolded.

Ellis spent more than 31 years behind bars before Nassau County Judge Patricia Harrington tossed his conviction in 2021. She contended the guilty verdict was based on testimony from a single eyewitness but no forensic or physical evidence.

Long Island prosecutors also failed to hand over to the defense notes from the lead homicide detective in the case, Harrington said.