Enraged officials in New York are calling on Gov. Kathy Hochul to repeal the state’s cashless bail laws after four suspects who were arrested in connection to the horrific dismembering of two people on Long Island last week were let back out on the streets.
Suffolk County officials held a Thursday press conference to slam the state’s progressive bail reform laws, saying cashless bail does not make New York safer and favors criminals over victims. They were joined by State Senator Mario Mattera.
“Governor, these bad laws are not making New York safer. They’re making it more dangerous for innocent people and more successful for those who would be perpetrators of crimes. Please change the laws,” said newly elected Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine. Police along with a canine unit conduct a search, inset. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images, left, (J. Conrad Williams Jr./Newsday RM via Getty Images, insert.)
OFFICIALS RAIL AGAINST BAIL REFORM AS 4 SUSPECTS CHARGED, THEN LET GO IN NY BODY MUTILATIONS CASE
“We have to deal with the situation where you can carve up someone and walk out of the court and not have to post bail or not be held. I don’t think that’s right,”
“The evidence that we had as of yesterday was not sufficient under the bail laws of this state to hold someone, despite the fact that we had enough evidence to say that they probably carved up these people.”
“You have to think about that for a while,” Romaine said. “You have to think that perhaps we’ve gone a little bit too far with bail reform, that perhaps we’ve favored too much the perpetrators of crime, and not weighed in enough for the victims of crime.”
The four suspects were charged with concealment of a human corpse, hindering prosecution and tampering with physical evidence. They were placed on supervised release and are required to wear a GPS anklet, report to probation once a week, remain in Suffolk County and surrender their passports.
Various body parts, including a severed head, arms and legs belonging to a man and a woman from Yonkers, New York, were found in Babylon over the last few days. The first gory discovery was made on Thursday by a girl on her way to school.
Several body parts were discovered on Long Island, New York, in early March. (Fox 5 NY)
ARRESTS MADE, MORE BODY PARTS DISCOVERED IN NEW YORK HORROR CASE
However, under the 2019 bail reform laws, the charges of mutilation and disposing of murdered corpses are no longer bail eligible, which means the prosecutors could not ask for bail, and the suspects could not be remanded to custody, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said in a statement Tuesday.
Officials at Thursday’s press briefing said they want New York judges to have more discretion when it comes to determining if someone accused of a crime is a danger to the public and needs to be held on bail. Mattera called on Hochul to act.
“Governor, these bad laws are not making New York safer,” Mattera said. “They’re making it more dangerous for innocent people and more successful for those who would be perpetrator of crimes. Please change the laws. Repeal this bill right now.”
“Governor, look what just happened. Body parts. We had a little girl walking to school, and she had to find a body part. What do you think that little girl is going to be going through the rest of her life seeing this? This is just unacceptable.”
New York officials have challenged Gov. Kathy Hochul, calling on her to repeal the state’s cashless bail laws after four suspects were released in a gruesome body mutilation case. (J. Conrad Williams Jr./Newsday RM via Getty Images, left, and James Carbone/Newsday RM via Getty Images, right )
“Why do we have to have the National Guard?” Mattera asked. “Because cashless bail offenses like this, because they don’t know what to do. So you know what, Governor, repeal cashless bail,” Mattera said to applause.
The appeals came a day after Hochul announced she was deploying the National Guard to New York City’s subway system due to ballooning crime on the system.
Fox News Digital reached out to Hochul’s office for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Presiding Officer Kevin McCaffrey said the Long Island body mutilation case has rocked the neighborhood and instilled fear among residents that the suspects accused of such horrific crimes are back on the street.
“The peaceful path that they would go to on a regular basis has now become a dumping ground for body parts. And that fear turned into anger when they found out that the people that were arrested for doing that were let out without any bail,” McCaffrey said.
A house at 25 Railroad Ave. in Amityville, New York, was searched on Monday. Three of the suspects live there. (Google Maps)
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The suspects, Steven Brown, 44, Jeffrey Mackey, 38, and Amanda Wallace, 40, all of 25 Railroad Ave. in Amityville, New York, were arrested by homicide squad detectives and charged, as was Alexis Nieves, 33, who is homeless.
Police searched the home at 25 Railroad Ave. on Monday, the same day they found more body parts belonging to the two victims in a wooded area across from 103 Lakeway Drive in West Babylon, while remains were also discovered at Bethpage State Park. No body parts were found at the home.
The series of gruesome discoveries began on Thursday morning, when a young girl on her way to school came across a severed arm on the side of a road on the east side of Southards Pond Park.
It led to a police search where more body parts were found, including a right arm and a leg belonging to the male.
Fox News’ Jennifer Johnson contributed to this report.
