Teen charged in fatal stabbing of grandmother's fiancé in East Northport faces judge
The victim's fiancée said she, her fiancé and her grandson all lived in a trailer on the property after their home had a fire last year.
A teen accused of killing his grandmother's fiancé inside a trailer where they all lived in East Northport faced a judge on Monday.
Noel Bermudez-Chin, 18, was charged in the fatal stabbing after Suffolk Police responded to 8 Catherine St. around 4 a.m. Sunday and found Joseph Falvo, 61, with multiple stab wounds inside the living room of a trailer parked in the driveway.
Falvo was rushed to Huntington Hospital, where he died.
A short time after responding to the home, police found Bermudez-Chin, who is Falvo's fiancée's grandson, about a mile away, on Laurel Hill Road in Northport.
Police charged him with second degree murder. His attorney, Pete Mayer, spoke after his client faced the judge.
"I don't want anybody to rush to judgment here because my client is presumed innocent," Mayer said.
Mayer entered a denial, which is similar to a not guilty plea.
Bermudez-Chin is being held without bail.
His older brother, Anthony Ortiz, said that Bermudez-Chin is schizophrenic and has been struggling for the past couple of years since his diagnosis.
He said he is unmedicated by his own choice.
"I just really want him to get the help that he needs," Ortiz said.
According to the victim's fiancée, Cecilia Bermudez, she and Falvo got engaged last month and were planning their wedding for July.
Bermudez said that she, Falvo and Bermudez-Chin all lived in the trailer after a fire destroyed part of their home last December.
According to court documents, Bermudez-Chin told Suffolk County police that he threw hot water on Falvo then “stabbed him five or six times in the back and then stabbed him in the stomach.”
Court documents didn’t immediately reveal a motive.
