Dix Hills Man Gets up to 40 Years in Prison for Brother’s Death, Mother’s Assault

A 21-year-old Dix Hills man convicted of manslaughter and assault charges related to his brother’s death and mother’s assault in 2014 was sentenced Friday up to 40 years in prison, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said.

Charles Okonkwo, Jr. was sentenced to 25 years for the assault and 5 to 15 years in prison for the manslaughter conviction, the DA said. The sentences will be served consecutively.

A jury deliberated for about four hours over two days in August before finding Okonkwo guilty of second-degree manslaughter and first-degree assault. He was acquitted of the second-degree murder charge.

On July 19, 2014, Charles Okonkwo, Sr., 62, returned from a hospital stay to find his son, Bradley Okonkwo, 15, dead and his wife, Chinwe Okonkwo, 52, unconscious inside their Norman Court home.

Bradley Okonkwo was pronounced dead at the scene while Chinwe Okonkwo, a physician, was airlifted to Stony Brook University with serious head injuries.

Suffolk County Police later arrested Charles Okonkwo, Jr., who was 18 years old at the time, not far from his home in the family car, the DA says.

Image via SCPD