A 28-year-old Long Island man died in his father’s arms after a longtime friend allegedly stabbed him in the neck while he slept — with the woman found still hiding in the victim’s basement when police arrived, the murder weapon reportedly still in her possession.
Bobby Carragher, an autobody shop worker from Massapequa, had spent several hours watching television with Kristin Sculley, 22, in his basement bedroom before falling asleep, according to NBC New York. Nassau County police say it was at that point that Sculley allegedly carried out the attack, stabbing Carragher in the neck with a pocket knife.
Carragher woke from the assault and ran upstairs screaming for his mother, according to PIX 11. His parents rushed to help him and desperately tried to stop the bleeding before he collapsed. He was pronounced dead at the scene. “He died in his father’s arms,” Nassau County Detective Lieutenant George Darienzo told a press conference on Tuesday. “No family should ever have to bear witness to their son being killed in that manner.”
Sculley allegedly remained inside the home after the attack, hiding in the basement before being located and taken into custody by authorities. She was still carrying the pocket knife believed to be the murder weapon when she was found, police said. When she was led out of Nassau Police Headquarters in Mineola into a waiting police car, NBC New York reported that Sculley appeared to smile and smirk.
A motive remains unclear. Investigators said there was some evidence of drug use at the scene, though no substances were recovered. Sculley has no prior criminal record. Her defence attorney, Mindy Plotkin, told Newsday that self-defence was a line of inquiry that needed to be explored. “I think self-defense is something that definitely has to be looked into in this case,” she said. Sculley has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and is being held without bail.
Friends of Carragher were left devastated and struggling to make sense of his death. Louis Ambrosio, speaking outside the courthouse to ABC 7, said Carragher “lit up every room he walked into” and described him to Newsday as a “hardworking kid” who had been getting his life on track. “It’s disturbing that the room I hung out with my friend, he was murdered in his sleep,” Ambrosio said. “It’s just not right.” Family friend Dan Goldberg called the death “very shocking,” while another friend, Thomas Maloney, told reporters: “It makes you lose faith in humanity a little bit thinking that someone could just take someone’s life so easily like that. It’s a really messed up thing.”
