Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced on Friday, October 3rd, that Brent Henry, 61, was convicted of Murder in the Second Degree and two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree.
A jury convicted the Riverhead resident of fatally shooting Ines Reyes, 23, of East Patchogue.
“Mr. Reyes was one month away from becoming a father when the defendant made the senseless decision to murder him,” said DA Tierney.
“We can never give the victim’s daughter the chance to meet her father, but hopefully today’s verdict brings the family some measure of closure.”
Evidence established at trial indicated that on August 18th, 2023, Henry and Reyes had a verbal confrontation that escalated into a fist fight. The violent altercation occurred inside the Bellport home Reyes shared with his girlfriend—Henry’s niece.
After the scuffle, Reyes and his girlfriend left the residence and went to a home on Amsterdam Avenue in East Patchogue to join other family members.
Shortly thereafter, Henry arrived at the Amsterdam Avenue house and confronted Reyes outside. This led to another fist fight. Henry then went to his vehicle, retrieved a .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun, and shot Reyes multiple times in front of his girlfriend.
Reyes was taken to Long Island Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Henry was arrested the following day.
On October 2nd, 2025, Henry was convicted of Murder in the Second Degree and two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, Class A and Class C violent felonies, respectively.
Henry is due to be sentenced on November 7th. He faces up to 25 years to life in prison.
Assistant District Attorneys Elena Tomaro and Jonathan Cappiello prosecuted the case, with help from Detectives T. Michael Palumbo, Guido Cirenza, and Brendan O’Hara of the Suffolk County Police Homicide Squad.