MONTICELLO — Members of the Village of Monticello Police Department (MPD) announced the arrest of a Loch Sheldrake man in connection with Sunday's homicide at the Monticello Meadows Apartments on Shaker Heights Drive.

Howard A. Sanders, 19, was arrested on Monday in the Town of Fallsburg and charged with second-degree murder, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence, all felonies.

Early on the morning of Sunday, May 20, MPD and the New York State Police (NYSP) responded to a 911 call reporting a body on the ground outside of the Monticello Meadows apartment. Police arrived on the scene to find the body of Brooklyn resident Lawrence Burns, 19. A preliminary autopsy revealed that Burns had suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the head.

According to MPD Lt. Mark Johnstone, an intensive investigation by MPD and the NYSP determined that Burns was killed inside an apartment in the complex, only a short distance from where his body was ultimately discovered. A search warrant executed at apartment #30 “resulted in the seizure of physical evidence related to the homicide,” according to a statement from MPD.

Upon entering the apartment, police also discovered crack cocaine and Suboxone, according to Johnstone. Gerrod D. Lucas, 22, was arrested and charged with fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a felony, and misdemeanor criminal possession of a controlled substance. Lucas was remanded to the Sullivan County Jail in lieu of $25,000 bail.

Sanders was arraigned before Acting Village of Monticello Justice Leo Glass and remanded to the Sullivan County Jail without bail.

Johnstone said MPD's investigation was carried out in conjunction with the NYSP, the Town of Fallsburg Police Department, Sullivan County Sheriff's Office and the Sullivan County District Attorney's Office.