BAY SHORE, NY — A Bay Shore man has been indicted on a murder charge in connection with the fatal stabbing of a 34-year-old man at the Bay Shore Long Island Rail Road station in July, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said Friday.
Adrien Arocho, 24, is accused of stabbing Yolandus Darrell Pratt approximately 10 times during a verbal exchange in the station's parking lot on July 5, prosecutors said. A 17-year-old co-defendant has also been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the killing.
According to the investigation and indictment, Pratt was riding his bicycle in the parking lot at about 2:30 a.m. when he became involved in a verbal exchange with Arocho and the teenager.
Moments into the exchange, Arocho approached Pratt while displaying a knife and began stabbing him, prosecutors said.
Pratt fell from his bicycle, but Arocho continued the attack, according to the district attorney's office. Arocho and the teenager then fled the scene.
Suffolk County police officers conducting routine patrols found Pratt bleeding and unconscious in the parking lot around 2:33 a.m.
Pratt was transported to South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore, where he was pronounced dead.
An autopsy determined that Pratt died from approximately 10 stab wounds to his chest and torso, prosecutors said.
Arocho fled New York shortly after the killing. He was apprehended in Gouldsboro, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 3 by the U.S. Marshals Service and extradited to Suffolk County to face charges.
Arocho was arraigned Thursday before Acting County Court Judge Pierce Cohalan on an indicted charge of second-degree murder, a class A felony.
Cohalan ordered him held without bail. Arocho is due back in court Oct. 6 and faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted on the top charge.
He is represented by attorney Raymond Baierlein, who was not immediately available for comment.
The 17-year-old co-defendant is expected to be arraigned on Sept. 21, before Acting Supreme Court Justice Karen Kerr on an indicted charge of second-degree murder.
"As alleged, this defendant carried out a brutal attack, stabbing the victim approximately 10 times during a late-night verbal exchange," Tierney said in a statement. "No disagreement is ever worth brutal violence. We extend our condolences to Mr. Pratt's loved ones and will seek justice on their behalf."
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