Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Steven Reid, 27, of Calverton, was sentenced to 14 years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision, after pleading guilty to attempted murder, assault, and other related charges, for opening fire at a candlelight vigil in Bellport in July 2023, and for his unprovoked attack on a corrections officer in December 2023, while he was in custody.
“This defendant’s brazen actions at a candlelight vigil followed by his violent attack on a corrections officer show a blatant disregard for the safety of others and the rule of law,” said District Attorney Tierney. “My office will continue to pursue justice relentlessly to ensure the safety and security of our community.”
According to court documents and the defendant’s admissions during his guilty plea allocution, on July 6, 2023, more than 100 people gathered in Bellport to celebrate the life of a community member who had died in a motorcycle accident days before. At the end of the candlelight vigil, Reid became involved in a physical altercation with another man who attended the vigil.
During the altercation, Reid pulled out a gun and shot the man at point-blank range in the upper right thigh. The bullet shattered the man’s femur, passed through his leg, and lodged into his right shin. Vigil attendees placed a tourniquet on the man’s leg and rushed him to the hospital where he underwent emergency orthopedic surgery to replace his shattered femur with metal rods and pins.
Minutes later, Reid followed the dispersed crowd and opened fire on another group of vigil attendees and shot at one man from close range. That victim suffered four gunshot wounds, including gunshot wounds to his back, shoulder, and both of his legs. Immediately thereafter, Reid opened fire at a female two times and then shot at another group of people, including a woman and a nine-year old boy, as they were running towards a nearby residence.
Reid fled Suffolk County and was apprehended in North Carolina. In September 2023, Reid was brought back to Suffolk County to face charges. On December 19, 2023, while in custody at the Suffolk County Correctional Facility, Reid assaulted a corrections officer without provocation.
On April 19, 2024, Reid pleaded guilty before Supreme Court Justice Anthony Senft to:
- Attempted Murder in the Second Degree, a Class B violent felony;
- Assault in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony;
- Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, a Class C violent felony; and
- Assault in the Second Degree, a Class D violent felony.
On May 22, 2024, Justice Senft sentenced Reid to 14 years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision. He was represented by the Legal Aid Society.
This case was prosecuted by the Violent Criminal Enterprise Bureau, and the investigation was conducted by Detective Wilson Nieves of the Suffolk County Police Department’s Fifth Squad, United States Marshals New York/New Jersey Regional Taskforce, and the Warrant Enforcement Section and Computer Crimes Unit of the Suffolk County Police Department.
Criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusatory instruments. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one is above the law.