Central Islip Man Gets 24 Years to Life for Baby Shower Shooting

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced Monday that Michael Lyles, 37, of Central Islip, was sentenced to 24 years to life in prison after a jury found him guilty of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree for a January 2024 shooting in the parking lot of a baby shower at the North Amityville Fire Department.

Lyles was attending the baby shower on Jan. 27, 2024, when a fight broke out and spilled outside, prosecutors said. Surveillance video showed him retrieving a firearm from the car he arrived in and firing 10 shots toward another guest, striking a nearby vehicle multiple times. The intended victim was not injured and the vehicle was unoccupied at the time of the shooting; after the shooting, Lyles handed the gun to another person who fled the scene, according to investigators.

Officers responding to the scene located ten 9 mm shell casings and a gray Toyota Highlander with multiple bullet holes through the windshield, front hood, and side panels of the driver side of the vehicle. Through video surveillance footage, Lyles was identified as a suspect, and a search warrant executed at his residence turned up the sweatshirt he was wearing on the surveillance footage during the shooting.

After committing the crime, Lyles became non-compliant with his parole conditions and fled the jurisdiction. Law enforcement tracked his movements with assistance from the United States Marshals Service, and he was apprehended approximately seven months after the shooting.

On November 25, 2025, Lyles was convicted after a jury trial heard before Acting Supreme Court Justice Steven A. Pilewski of two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, Class C violent felonies. In 2018, Lyles had been convicted of Attempted Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree for possessing a loaded firearm, and he had been released to parole supervision in 2022, placing him on parole at the time of the baby shower shooting. That prior conviction made Lyles eligible for enhanced penalties as a persistent violent felony offender under New York law, allowing the court to impose an indeterminate sentence with a maximum of life.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Kenneth Collado of the Violent Criminal Enterprises Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Amanda Scheier of the Major Crimes Bureau; the investigation was conducted by Detective John Caraccia of the Suffolk County Police Department's First Precinct Detective Squad, with assistance from the United States Marshal New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force.

Lyles was represented by the Legal Aid Society.

"Recidivist offenders such as this defendant pose a serious risk to the safety of our communities," District Attorney Tierney said. "Everyone deserves a second chance, but I will not allow the same individuals to continuously commit crimes in Suffolk County and just get a slap on the wrist."

Lyles will remain in state custody while any appeals or post-trial motions are pursued.