On February 16, 2022, 20-year-old Yusef Staine of West Babylon was shot and killed on a westbound Long Island Rail Road train stopped at Ronkonkoma station around 1:45 a.m. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Surveillance footage and police statements say Staine appeared to be traveling with the man who shot him; footage showed no apparent dispute before the shooting. The suspect reportedly walked up behind Staine as they boarded the train car, shot him once in the back of the head, and fired again into his torso after Staine had collapsed. No one else on the train was injured.

Investigators later developed evidence about the suspect’s movements after the shooting, and an arrest was made in May 2023. Prosecutors did not provide a motive during the court proceedings, leaving the reasons for the attack unclear to Staine’s family. Did anyone on the train that night notice either man or anything unusual before the shooting?