Bail Reform Debate Rages on
A social media photo of Yonkers residents Malcolm Brown and Donna Conneely
By Dan Murphy
The gruesome discovery on Feb. 29 by a girl walking home from school on Long Island of body parts has led to the arrest of four persons in connection with the death of two Yonkers residents.
The body parts, which were found in three locations in West Babylon and Bethpage and were later identified to be 53-year-old Malcolm Craig Brown and 59-year-old Donna Conneely. Both were residents of Yonkers and were in a relationship.
Suffolk County Police arrested Steven Brown, 44, and Amanda Wallace, 40, on March 5. Jeffrey Mackey, 38, and Alexis Nieves, 33, were also arrested. But the Suffolk County District Attorney did not have the evidence yet to charge the four with murder. Instead, they were charged with tampering with physical evidence, hindering prosecution and concealing a human corpse.
And as a result of the Bail Reforms passed in New York State in 2019, the Judge nor the DA had the authority to hold them in prison. As a result, the four walked out of a courtroom, not once but twice, with GPS ankle bracelets.
Another oddity to this strange case is the one of those charged, Steven Brown, is the cousin of the deceased Malcolm Brown. The family of Malcolm Brown attended the court proceedings and were vocal about their desire for justice.
One family member shouted at Steven Brown, “How could you” in court. Another said, “do the right thing,” asking him to help police solve this case.
According to prosecutors, the four allegedly used butcher knives and meat cleavers to dismember the victims’ bodies.
The four pleaded not guilty and the criminal charges are not considered violent crimes, which is why they were released without bail.
Some are blaming Suffolk DA Ray Tierney for not charging the four for murder immediately. But Tierney blames the new bail reform laws as the problem.
“As a prosecutor, you’re ethically required to only charge the cases which you can either establish probable cause for or prove beyond a reasonable doubt. These particular charges are what we can charge now. This situation, with these four defendants being released, would have never happened if the prosecution would have been able to argue dangerousness. In New York state, we cannot argue dangerousness as a factor in our bail applications,” Tierney said.
Under New York’s bail reform laws, passed in 2019, the crimes committed and charged so far do not meet the eligibility for bail.
“It is our understanding that the Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD) is still investigating these murders. Unfortunately, due to “Bail Reform” passed by the New York State Legislature in 2019, charges relating to the mutilation and disposal of murdered corpses is no longer bail-eligible, meaning my prosecutors cannot ask for bail. This is yet another absurd result thanks to “Bail Reform” and a system where the Legislature in Albany substitutes their judgment for the judgment of our judges and the litigants in court. We will work with the SCPD to resolve this investigation as soon as possible and implore our Legislature to make common sense fixes to this law,” said Tierney.
Westchester Assemblyman Matt Slater highlighted the case to call again for changes to New York’s Bail Reform laws.
“I am appalled to discover, yet again, that dangerous criminals are being released onto our streets. These individuals are violent and pose a significant threat to our communities. Thanks to our governor and the failure that is bail reform, they are allowed to roam freely among us. Our district attorneys have their hands tied by nonsensical restrictions preventing them from requesting bail. New Yorkers, district attorneys and victims’ families are tired of it. Enough is enough, and it is time we put the people of this state’s safety first, NOT the criminals’ freedom,” said Slater, who has co-sponsored legislation which would provide judges with more discretion based on dangerousness when issuing a securing order and allows for limited pre-trial detention upon such a determination, and A9167-whhich requires law enforcement and courts to notify the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency when an arrested person or defendant is not a United States citizen.
The people of Yonkers are saddened by the loss of life, and their prayers go out to the families of the victims.
One person said she knew one of those charged. Alexis is a good friend of mine. She isn’t capable of this crime! Something is NOT adding up.”
Nobody knows the reason for these crimes. Some are guessing that drugs and gangs were involved. “Who actually is responsible for committing the murders and who gave those individual’s the locations of the bodies and the instructions to do what they did, and why,” is another good question posed.
Someone asked about a reward for information. No details on a reward yet.
