Coram Man Shot Dad Outside Apartment Over Stepson's Roughly $25 Marijuana Debt: DA

RIVERSIDE, NY — A Coram man has been indicted in connection with shooting a man outside his apartment after a fight over a roughly $25 debt owed by his 16-year-old stepson for marijuana, Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney said.

Dominick Tullon, 18, pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and first-degree reckless endangerment.

He was ordered remanded to the Suffolk County Correctional Facility for the pendency of the case.

If convicted on the top count, he faces five to 25 years in state prison.

His defense attorney, Matthew Tuohy of Huntington, said his client maintains his innocence.

"We are reviewing all of the discovery and looking into the facts of the case," he added.

Tierney said Tullon fired four shots at the man and his family outside of an occupied apartment building, “all over a $25 debt.”

“The victim is now living with permanent consequences of a bullet lodged near his spine,” he said. “There is no place in Suffolk County for such careless violence.”

Tullon approached the man’s apartment with two others looking to collect $25 owed by the man's 16-year-old stepson for the purchase of marijuana, prosecutors said.

After several minutes of argument between the man, his wife, and his stepson on one side, and Tullon and two companions on the other, the man told his family to go back inside, as the discussion was not productive, according to prosecutors.

At that point, Tullon took a handgun from his fanny pack and fired at the man, and the open doorway to his apartment, prosecutors said, adding that four shots were fired in total.

Two bullets struck the man's apartment door frame, with one bullet pierced a neighboring unit, and one striking the man, according to prosecutors.

Tullon and his companions bolted from the scene of the shooting, and around 20 minutes later, he returned to with his hands raised and was taken into custody, prosecutors said.

The man was taken to a local hospital, where he underwent two surgeries, and the bullet remains lodged in his spine, as doctors have determined that removing it would risk paralyzing him, according to prosecutors.

Tullon is due back in court on May 19.