Man Gets Max Sentence for Horrific Child Murder

A man received the maximum in Orange County this week for a heartbreaking 2022 murder that left a mother devastated.

Gionni Sellers, 26, of Middletown, previously convicted in a jury trial of Second-Degree Murder and First-Degree Manslaughter was sentenced Tuesday March 10, in the Orange County Court to 25 years to life in prison, the maximum sentence permitted by law.

The Murder of Three-year-old Xavier Johnson

According to information revealed during the trial Sellers was responsible for watching his girlfriend's son Xavier, 3, in May and June of 2022.

Then June 2, 2022 officers responded to a 911 call just before 8 a.m. at a home on Edward Diana Way in Walkill only to find the three-year-old boy unresponsive and not breathing in the living room.

Johnson was pronounced deceased upon arrival at Garnet Health Medical Center

According to the investigation, in the days leading up to the child's death, Sellers inflicted blunt force trauma to the boy's head and torso which led to injuries to his brain and, then his death.

After the trial DA Hoovler said Sellers' "depraved and wicked actions" were the cause of the "senseless death."

“The conduct of this defendant, as proven beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury of his peers, showed that this defendant’s depraved and wicked actions caused the senseless death of a vulnerable child,” said District Attorney Hoovler. “I said at the outset of this case, and I now reiterate that my Office, together with our law enforcement partners, demanded justice for the victim in this case to give voice to the voiceless.  It is through the dedication and hard work of both police and prosecutors that this defendant has been held to account for his horrendous crimes.”

According to the DA, devastating injuries caused "grievous harm throughout the child's body, including severe trauma to the child's brain, which ultimately caused his death."

To add a layer of disturbing- following a review of Sellers's phone internet searches several telling inquiries were discovered including: "why do younger men want to hurt baby" and "baby breathing heavy after being shook."

After less than an hour of deliberations, on January 16, 2026, the jury unanimously came to a guilty verdict.