A Riverhead man has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon in connection with a shooting in 2021.
On December 2, 2021, at approximately 9:50 a.m., in the woods behind 50 Middle Country Road in Coram, Marcus Reid fired multiple rounds from a semiautomatic .40 caliber handgun at the ground below Branzel Bonner’s feet, demanding that he hand over his fanny pack. When Bonner refused, Reid repeatedly shot Bonner in the torso. Reid then attempted to remove Bonner’s fanny pack from his motionless body, but was unsuccessful, so he instead removed the contents, then fled the scene. Bonner was pronounced dead at Stony Brook University Hospital within an hour of the shooting.
In his haste to flee, Reid dropped his own debit card at the scene which was recovered by law enforcement and was also captured on surveillance video.
On February 7, 2024, Reid pleaded guilty before Acting Supreme Court Judge Stephen L. Braslow, to first-degree manslaughter, a Class B felony, and criminal possession of a weapon, a Class C felony. He is due back in court on March 11, 2024, and is expected to be sentenced to 20 years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision. H
“A life was taken far too soon,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney. “While this plea cannot undo the victim’s death, I thank the prosecutor on this case for securing the defendant’s conviction and holding him accountable for this senseless fatal shooting.”