New arrest in Shirley homicide case, suspect faces murder charge
Another arrest has deepened the Shirley homicide case, where prosecutors say Christopher Martin was beaten with a sledgehammer, a bat, dumbbells and a television.
Another arrest has widened the Shirley homicide case that ended with Christopher Martin dead at 48 and three people now facing charges tied to the same violent assault. Suffolk County police said Benjamin Sheppard, 33, of Central Islip, was charged after investigators said Martin was attacked at 183 Hounslow Road and later died at NYU Langone Hospital-Suffolk in Patchogue.
Police said a resident of the home called 911 at about 7:30 p.m. on June 14, 2026, to report a fight involving a man who rented a room there. When officers arrived, they found Martin seriously injured. He was transported to the hospital and pronounced dead a short time later.
Sheppard now faces two counts of second-degree murder and one count of first-degree gang assault, according to police. He was being held overnight at the Third Precinct and was scheduled to appear in First District Court in Central Islip on June 20. His arrest followed the earlier arrests of Korey Sammarco, 36, and Melissa Fawcett, 50, both of whom were charged with first-degree gang assault on June 15.
The case has centered on a tangled domestic and personal history inside the Hounslow Road house. News reports said Martin lived with Sammarco and had previously dated Fawcett. One report said Sammarco had moved out of the home the day before the killing with a police escort and then allegedly returned with four other people to force his way inside.
Prosecutors have described the assault as unusually brutal. They said the attack involved a sledgehammer, a bat, dumbbells and a television, and that Martin suffered broken ribs, a broken nose and severe facial injuries. The violence and the number of people accused in the case have made it one of the more closely watched criminal investigations in Suffolk County in recent months.
Police and prosecutors have continued to treat the case as active as they work to sort out each person’s role and determine whether more charges are coming. Suffolk County police said the criminal charges are accusations only and that each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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