BRENTWOOD – On Friday, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney (R) announced the 57-count indictment against 18 alleged members and associates of a Riverhead-based gang, which refers to itself as the “48 Gang.”
Charges include a 2021 murder of a Mastic Beach woman and a 2023 murder of a Riverhead man, while a Mount Vernon Police Detective is charged with Conspiracy to Possess Weapons for allegedly providing firearms to gang members in 2021 and 2022.
The multi-year investigation was conducted by the Suffolk D.A.’s office, the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, Town Police of Riverhead and Southampton, the FBI, Nassau County P.D., and the U.S. Marshals Regional Fugitive Task Force.
The organization is alleged to have operated primarily in the Town of Riverhead, specifically at the areas around Oakland Drive – known as the “4 Block” – the Doctors Path Apartments, and the River Pointe Apartments on East Main Street.
The gang is alleged to have affiliated with widely-recognized gangs, such as the Bloodhound Brims and the Mak Balla Family, with those associations allegedly influencing the 48 Gang’s operation in Riverhead. The conspiracy is alleged to have seen multiple organizations share firearms for the commission of shooting and robberies.
The five-month grand jury presentation resulted in the charges of two murders, eight armed robberies, five additional shootings, and the possession of 13 illegal weapons.
A massive twist in the case, however, comes with Kyren Braunskill, 34, of Mount Vernon, who faces the top count of Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, a Class E Felony. He is alleged to have helped the gang sell and possess illegal firearms from January 2021 through December 2022, during which time he was a 911 operator for the NYPD. In December 2022, he became a police officer in Mount Vernon, where is currently a Detective.
If convicted, Braunskill faced up to one-and-one-third to four years in prison.
Eight defendants are charged in long-term conspiracy to commit murder, while eleven defendants are charged in a conspiracy to commit armed robberies. It is also alleged that the defendants used violence “as a means of establishing geographical dominance over the Riverhead area and funded their criminal activity through armed robberies, firearms sales, narcotics sales, and financial frauds,” according to a statement from the D.A.’s office.
Defendants Jacob Moore, 24, Justin Dicks, 24, both of Riverhead, are charged with Second Degree Murder for the shooting of a Mastic Beach man in October 2021. They allegedly intended to rob Marcel Arrington, 18, at gunpoint on Bayview Avenue. It also alleged that Moore and Dicks contacted Arrington under the guise of purchasing marijuana. It is further alleged that Dicks shot Arrington once in the chest before stealing the marijuana and absconding with Moore.
Defendants Elias Lugo, 20, of Riverhead, Acorey Hobbs, 20, of Southampton, and Omarion Francis, 21, of Coram, face charges of Attempted Muder in the Second Degree for the alleged shooting of rival gang members in Bellport. On the evening of September 26, 2022, the three defendants allegedly traveled to Taylor Avenue, armed with multiple firearms, where they exited their vehicle and fired multiple shots from three weapons at a group of rival gang members in front of a residence. No one was injured.
Nickomas Allen, 38, of Riverhead, is charged with Second Degree Murder, and is currently in federal custody in Pennsylvania on an unrelated charge. He is set to be transported to Suffolk County for his arraignment. Allen is alleged to have gotten into a physical alteration with a 47-year-old Mastic man, James Ayers, in the parking lot at 821 East Main Street in Riverhead. Ayers is alleged to have punched Allen in the head in the presence of several witnesses, before leaving the lot. Allen allegedly went into an apartment at the complex to retrieve a firearm, followed Ayers down Main Street, sparked a verbal dispute, and shot Ayers in the head. Allen fled the scene, while Ayers died from his injuries days later at South Shore University Hospital.
Several more defendants are alleged to have robbed two 7-11 convenience stores at gunpoint in less than one hour on September 26, 2023. One store on Caleb’s Path in Central Islip was robbed of $600 from the register, where a 69-year-old cashier was working, before fleeing to a North Bellmore 7-11, where they obtained about $1000 in chas from the register.
The group is also alleged to have held up the El Quetzal Deli in Flanders on September 23, 2024. Approximately $6000 in cash was stolen while defendants allegedly brandished firearms.
A search warrant of Demario Weston’s, 23, Farmingville apartment was executed in January 2025. Police found a loaded handgun, believed to be the same firearm used in the Flanders robbery, as well fentanyl, cocaine, digital scales, and cash. Weston is charged with Robbery in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony, for which the top sentence is 25 years imprisonment. In his apartment was co-defendant Tiana MacDonald, 24, of Farmingville, and her young child.
“This indictment is yet another example of my office’s steadfast commitment to eliminating gang violence in Suffolk County,” said District Attorney Tierney in a statement. “Once again, working with all our local and federal partners throughout Long Island, we were able to secure this consequential indictment and help bring justice to victims of gang violence throughout Suffolk County. I’ve said it before and I will say it again, gangs and illegal weapons have no place in Suffolk County, and we will work tirelessly to ensure that any gang member, or anyone aiding gang members, operating in Suffolk County, will be brought to justice.”
Suffolk County Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina echoed these sentiments in a statement.
“There is no place for gang violence in our communities, and we will not stand on the sidelines while individuals bring fear to our neighborhoods through their violent actions,” said Catalina. “Working alongside the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office and our federal, state and local law enforcement partners, we will not relent in our pursuit of those responsible. Whether it takes months or years, we will continue to investigate, solve these crimes, and bring justice to the victims and their families.”
