Ankle GPS Devices Stay On For 2 Charged In Body Parts Case

BABYLON, NY — A judge ordered that two charged in the case of body parts found on Long Island must continue to wear their ankle GPS monitors, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.

"The conditions placed on the defendants’ release, including GPS monitoring, have been extended
and will remain in effect. The investigation into the deaths continues," the DA said.

Both Alexis Nieves, 33,who is without a known address, and Jeffrey Mackey, 38, of Amityville appeared in Suffolk 1st District Court Friday after they were released without bail following their arrest this week.

Christopher Gioe, Nieves' attorney, did not immediately return a request for comment from Patch. John Halvorsen, attorney for Mackey, confirmed with Patch that his client must wear the monitoring device. "All the orders for the arraignment remain," he said. He told Patch that Mackey and Nieves are "in a relationship."

He added: "We maintain our innocence, like we pled at the arraignment."

Mackey and Nieves are next due in court on March 19.

Four people were arrested this week in connection with the grisly discovery of human remains in Babylon, West Islip and Bethpage this week, police said.

Suffolk County Police homicide squad detectives arrested and charged Steven Brown, 44, Mackey, 38, and Amanda Wallace, 40, all of 25 Railroad Ave., in Amityville, and Nieves, with first-degree hindering prosecution, tampering with physical evidence and concealment of a human corpse, police said.

Wallace and Brown are next due in court on March 11, according to online court documents.

Tierney spoke out against bail reform measures after the arrests.

New human remains were found Tuesday in the ongoing investigation after body parts were found in a Babylon park last week, police said.

According to an update by Suffolk County Police homicide squad detectives, an investigation into the human remains found in Babylon on February 29 resulted in a search warrant that was executed at a Railroad Ave. address in Amityville on Monday. No human remains were located during the search, police said.

Human remains were, however, located in a wooded area across from 103 Lakeway Drive in West Babylon on Tuesday, police said. The scene was processed by the Suffolk County Police homicide squad and the Office of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner, police said.

In addition, human remains were also located at Bethpage State Park on Tuesday; the scene was processed by New York State Police and the Office of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner, police said.

The remains located in West Babylon and Bethpage are believed to belong to the same victims from the February 29 discovery, police said.

The female, 59 years old, has been identified and her name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin, police said. The male has been tentatively identified and was 53 years old at the time of his death, police said.

Their last known address was the same location in Yonkers, however, it’s unclear when they last resided there, police said.

Based on the investigation, the discovery of the remains appears to be an isolated incident with no threat to the public, police said, adding that the investigation is continuing.

Police did not immediately respond to questions about peculation circulating that the murders might have been part of a "love triangle" or could have been gang-related.

According to Suffolk County police, the human remains found at Southards Pond Park in Babylon belonged to both a woman and a adult male, including a woman's arm, leg and head, and a man's two arms, which had tattoos. The Suffolk County Medical Examiner determined that a severed head, right arm, left leg from the knee down, and a right upper leg found by a Suffolk County Police cadaver dog at the western side of Southards Pond Park on Thursday were believed to be those of an adult woman, police said late Friday.

According to Suffolk County police, on Thursday at about 8:40 a.m., a high school student was walking to school and discovered a severed left arm on the west side of Seagal Boulevard at the eastern end of Southards Pond Park, between Park Avenue and Mason Avenue.
The student called her father, who then called 911, police said.

Following an investigation by homicide squad detectives, a cadaver dog from the canine unit discovered a leg in a mound of leaves on the western side of the park near Graham Place; the same dog continued searching the east side of the park and found a right arm about 20 feet away from the original discovery of the left arm, police said. The remains found on the eastern edge of the park appeared to be male, police said.

Educators and parents worked hard all week to protect children from the gruesome discoveries unfolding close to their schools.

The gloves were off Thursday as Gov. Kathy Hochul and Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney exchanged heated accusations over the grisly discovery of body parts in Long Island parks that has left a community reeling — and lawmakers crying out for reform after four charged in the case were released back onto the streets without bail.

The four were placed on supervised release, will have GPS monitoring, and will have to report to probation in person, in addition to surrendering their passports, officials said.

Hochol, speaking with Rosanna Scotto, on FOX 5NY, asked Hochul about Tierney's statement. On Wednesday, when the four were released, Tierney said that, due to "'bail reform' passed by the New York State Legislature in 2019,charges relating to the mutilation and disposal of murdered corpses are no longer bail-eligible, meaning my prosecutors cannot ask for bail."

Hochul responded to the question of bail reform: "Maybe the DA should have done a more thorough investigation and brought murder charges or conspiracy to commit murder, or even assault charges — because all of them are bail eligible. Okay, maybe they brought it a little early. I encourage the DA's office to go back and build your case, because if you bring any of those charges, which I think would be appropriate, that's absolutely bail eligible. Those people would not be out on the street."

Tierney fired back Thursday: "Governor Hochul is either completely clueless or being deceitful about how the criminal justice system works," he said. "Prosecutors have a duty to bring only charges that are supported by evidence. Anything else would be unethical. The Suffolk County Police homicide detectives are the best in the country, and they are working 24/7 on this case. For the governor to criticize the efforts of these detectives without knowing any of the facts in defense of a broken bail system is both baffling and indefensible. When law enforcement had enough evidence to arrest these defendants for serious felonies, they did the right thing and made those arrests. Did the governor want the police to leave them out despite having evidence that they cut up and disposed of two bodies?"

Detectives are asking anyone with information to contact the Homicide Squad at 631-852-6392 or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-Tips. All calls will remain anonymous.