A jury began deliberating Wednesday in the trial of Douglas McFarlane, who is charged with first- and second-degree murder in the 2019 killing of Middletown business owner Sebastian Avilan-Medina, 26, who was shot inside his own home.
During a break in deliberations, McFarlane reportedly made an obscene gesture toward television cameras in the Orange County courtroom after trying to shield his face from photographers. News12 reporter Blaise Gomez wrote on X that McFarlane “appeared to give me the finger” while he was taking court-approved photos.
Prosecutors allege McFarlane was paid $10,000 by co-defendant Sheldon Paul to carry out the shooting in March 2019. They say Paul believed Avilan-Medina had burglarized his home and arranged the killing in response.
The case went unsolved for five years before McFarlane, Paul and a third man, Dijion Constantine, were arrested in 2024 and charged in connection with the killing.
Constantine, who prosecutors say was compensated with marijuana for his part in the plot, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in June and is scheduled to be sentenced next month. Paul’s first trial ended in a mistrial in April, but a second jury convicted him of second-degree murder earlier this month. He faces 25 years to life in prison when he is sentenced in January.
At McFarlane’s trial, prosecutors presented phone records, surveillance footage and testimony Constantine gave as part of his guilty plea to build their case. Defense attorneys have argued the evidence against McFarlane is circumstantial, pointing to the absence of DNA evidence tying him to the crime.
For Avilan-Medina’s family, the proceedings have reopened painful wounds nearly seven years after his death.
“It is a roller coaster of emotions,” the victim’s father, Bryan Avilan, told News12. “It’s hard to go through all that happened to our son.”
Avilan said the family has also struggled with how to protect Avilan-Medina’s son, who was just one year old when his father was killed, from learning the details of the case.
“It’s hard to bring this home and trying to hide it because we don’t want him to know yet what happened to daddy,” Avilan said.
The jury’s deliberations in McFarlane’s trial were ongoing as of Wednesday.
