Suffolk County man indicted in Huntington Station deli shooting death

A Huntington Station argument behind the One Stop Deli ended in one gunshot and a death that Suffolk County prosecutors say was captured on surveillance video, a case now moving forward after Carlos Castro was indicted on murder charges.

Prosecutors say Castro, 27, a Honduran national, was behind the deli at 150 West Pulaski Road at about 4:11 p.m. on April 20 when he got into a dispute with Steven Rocco, 43, of Huntington Station. An eyewitness briefly separated the two men, but prosecutors allege Castro then shot Rocco once and ran off on foot. A 911 caller reported the shooting about 4:15 p.m., and when officers arrived they found an adult man with a gunshot wound. He was taken to Huntington Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said nearby surveillance video recorded the killing, a detail that gives investigators a minute-by-minute account of how fast the confrontation escalated from an argument to a fatal shooting in a busy neighborhood near West Pulaski Road.

Castro was indicted May 5 on charges of second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Prosecutors say that after the shooting he changed his phone number the next day, gathered about $3,000 from friends and family, and hired a driver to take him to Texas in an effort to leave the country.

Authorities caught up with him in Alabama on April 23, when he was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force. He was extradited back to New York on May 4 and arraigned the next day before Supreme Court Justice Timothy P. Mazzei, who ordered him held without bail.

If convicted on the top count, Castro faces 25 years to life in prison. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Sheetal Shetty and investigated by Detective Delilah Bustamante of the Suffolk County Police Department Homicide Squad.

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney has described the killing as a senseless shooting and credited Suffolk County police and the U.S. Marshals Service for getting Castro back to Suffolk County. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has also lodged a detainer, which would come into play only after the criminal case concludes, for possible deportation proceedings. Castro is due back in court on June 15.