A Suffolk County jury has found a 32-year-old Salvadoran man guilty of second-degree murder and related weapons charges in the fatal shooting of a fellow tenant in Bay Shore last year, prosecutors announced.
Darwin Josue Maldonado Vanegas was convicted following a jury trial in connection with the April 3, 2025 killing of 24-year-old Daniel Nunez-Hernandez. Acting Supreme Court Justice Richard Horowitz presided over the case. Maldonado Vanegas now faces a potential sentence of 32 years to life in prison when he returns to court on April 16.
According to prosecutors, Suffolk County police responded to a residence at approximately 11:20 p.m. and discovered Nunez-Hernandez with gunshot wounds to his chest and arm. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators recovered two 9mm shell casings near the victim’s body.
Authorities said both men rented separate rooms in the same home. Witnesses reported hearing two gunshots coming from the basement earlier that morning. Later that day, other tenants returning from work found the victim lying on a couch in the basement and contacted police.
The investigation determined that Maldonado Vanegas had been present at the home around the time the shots were heard. Detectives also recovered a magazine loaded with 12 rounds of 9mm ammunition hidden between the mattress and box spring of his bed.
Prosecutors said Maldonado Vanegas fled New York shortly after the shooting, withdrawing a large sum of money from his bank account. He traveled through Atlantic City, where he stopped using his original cellphone and obtained another device, before continuing to Miami, Florida.
He was apprehended on May 7, 2025, by Suffolk County homicide detectives with assistance from the Miami Police Department.
District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney said the verdict reflects a commitment to holding violent offenders accountable and praised jurors and investigators for their work on the case.