An Arizona man has been indicted for the “execution style” murder of his friend on a Long Island Rail Road train in Suffolk County last year, officials announced Friday.
Nicholas D’Agostino, 20, was arrested Thursday in Yonkers and charged in the caught-on-camera slaying of 20-year-old Yusef Staine in February 2022, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said.
D’Agostino allegedly carried out the cold-blooded killing after he, Staine and two other pals spent a night out in New York City, according to prosecutors.
The alleged killer traveled from Arizona to Wyandanch on Feb. 13 to visit Staine, who “considered him a friend,” said DA Raymond Tierney.
Two days later, the pals and two other friends took the LIRR to the Big Apple. In the early hours of Feb. 16, D’Agostino and Staine were seen heading back to Wyandanch on the train, but missed their stop, according to surveillance footage reviewed by investigators.
The pair got off at the Ronkonkoma station — the final stop on the line — and then boarded a westbound train back towards Wyandanch.
After getting on the apparently empty train car, D’Agostino allegedly shot Staine in the aisle.
Horrific video of the killing obtained by The Post shows the moment D’Agostino allegedly pulls a gun from his pants, unseen by Staine, and shoots the unsuspecting victim in the back of the head.
Staine drops to the floor mortally wounded and D’Agostino, dressed in black, fires a second shot into his torso.
D’Agostino then fled out of the open doors of the train, which was reportedly set to leave in minutes for Penn Station.
Officials have not identified a motive for the killing. The two friends did not appear to have any kind of dispute leading up to the fatal shooting, sources told Newsday last February.
D’Agostino was arraigned on Friday on charges of murder and criminal possession of a weapon and ordered to be held without bail by Judge Steven A. Pilewski.
If convicted, D’Agostino faces up to 25 years to life in prison, but is eligible for 40 years to life in prison, according to the prosecutor’s office.
He is scheduled to appear in court next on June 14.
