Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy D. Sini announced that a Bellport man was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for kidnapping and murdering a Hempstead man before leaving his body in the basement of an abandoned house in Wyandanch in 2017.

 

Joshua Nickens, 27, pleaded guilty on March 1 to Murder in the First Degree, two counts of Murder in the Second Degree, and Kidnapping in the First Degree, which are all class A felonies.

 

“This was a heinous, ill-conceived act fueled by revenge,” District Attorney Sini said. “To brutally murder someone for suspecting that he stole a video game console is incomprehensible, and this defendant will now rightfully spend up to life in prison for this crime.”

 

On March 27, 2017, Nickens, acting in concert with his mother, stepfather and then-girlfriend, kidnapped Alan Moore, 22, of Hempstead, because the defendants believed Moore had stolen a PlayStation video game console from their home while living with them.

 

Nickens and two of the co-defendants brought Moore to an abandoned property located at 140 Long Island Ave. in Wyandanch where Nickens strangled him to death. The defendants then stripped Moore of his clothing and left him in the basement of the house.

 

Moore’s body was discovered by a squatter seeking shelter in the abandoned property on April 1, 2017.

 

Following an investigation by the Suffolk County Police Department’s Homicide Squad, Nickens was arrested on July 12, 2017.

 

Nickens was sentenced yesterday by Suffolk County Court Judge Stephen Braslow to 20 years to life in prison.

 

Nickens’ mother, Sunetta Dennis, 43, and stepfather, Larry Dennis, 49, both of Bellport, were indicted in September 2018 for their alleged roles in the kidnapping and murder. Mrs. Dennis is charged with Murder in the Second Degree, an A felony. Mr. Dennis is charged with Murder in the Second Degree and Kidnapping in the First Degree, which are both A felonies. The fourth co-defendant, Dequanna Bates, 26, of Bellport, was arrested along with Nickens in July 2017 and charged with Murder in the Second Degree and Kidnapping in the First Degree. Their cases are all ongoing.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Kathleen Kearon, of the Homicide Bureau.