OLD BETHPAGE, N.Y. (WCBS 880) -- Police say a 22-year-old Staten Island man shot and killed his would-be partner in crime during a robbery gone wrong at a Long Island park over the weekend.
Authorities say suspect Brandon Torres fatally shot his accomplice while robbing a drug dealer of a pound of marijuana inside Haypath Road Park in Old Bethpage around 10:30 p.m. Saturday.
Nassau County Police Lt. Stephen Fitzpatrick says Torres along with the murder victim, 22-year-old Stefon Pierre of Queens, and three others went to the park together to commit the robbery.
"On the way there they conspired and planned how they were going to rob him, they all were aware that Brandon Torres was carrying a .380 caliber handgun," Fitzpatrick said.
Then something went terribly wrong. Torres allegedly shot Pierre as he walked towards him during the robbery, police say.
"He had just met him that night, it was dark, he came up very fast on him. He turned and shot him," Fitzpatrick said.
Torres is charged with second-degree murder, robbery and criminal possession of a weapon.
He did not speak to reporters Tuesday as he was taken from a police station for his arraignment at First District Court in Hempstead.
Pierre was one of five children and relatives said he was supposed to go to a family cookout the night he was killed.
Four others, including the alleged drug dealer who police say was robbed, are also charged in the case.