Suffolk prosecutors indict West Babylon man in Deer Park killing
A West Babylon man was indicted in the death of 65-year-old Donald Klune, who prosecutors say was beaten and robbed beside his parked car in Deer Park.
Prosecutors say Donald Klune was sitting in his parked car on Brook Avenue in Deer Park when a violent robbery turned into a fatal beating, leaving the 65-year-old amputee unable to defend himself. Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced the indictment of 25-year-old Jason Butt-Champagne of West Babylon on second-degree murder and robbery charges in the case that has shadowed Deer Park for more than a year.
According to the District Attorney’s Office, the attack happened around 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 11, 2024, when Butt-Champagne allegedly approached Klune, forcibly pulled him out of the vehicle, kicked and beat him, then fled in Klune’s car. Prosecutors said Klune had only one leg. A good Samaritan found him in the road and called 911. Klune was taken to South Shore University Hospital and died two days later, on Dec. 13, 2024. The Suffolk County Medical Examiner ruled the cause of death blunt force injuries.
Investigators later located Klune’s vehicle in a commercial parking lot in Deer Park on Dec. 12, 2024. Prosecutors said Butt-Champagne was also linked to Klune’s keys after he was allegedly struck by a motor vehicle on Commack Road near the recovered car, and the keys were found nearby. Butt-Champagne was arrested on May 11, 2026, and arraigned before Acting Supreme Court Justice Karen M. Wilutis on May 21, 2026. He was remanded and faces up to 25 years to life if convicted of second-degree murder. The indictment also includes first-degree robbery, second-degree robbery, second-degree assault and fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property.
Court documents quoted Butt-Champagne as saying he stole the car because he was angry and that he “pulled him out of the car, punched him and kicked him.” He has pleaded not guilty.
The case also has a stark personal timeline. Klune’s obituary lists visitation for Dec. 20, 2024, at Moloney Family Funeral Homes, with funeral and burial services set for Dec. 21 at St. Charles/Resurrection Cemetery in Farmingdale. During the investigation, Suffolk County police asked anyone with information to call the Homicide Squad at 631-852-6392 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS.
For Deer Park and surrounding communities, the indictment turns a long-running homicide investigation into formal court action, but it also underscores a harder question: how a vulnerable resident living alone was allegedly targeted in a street robbery that ended in death. The case now moves deeper into the criminal court process, with a June 24 hearing scheduled as prosecutors press forward.
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