29-Year-Old Charged In Ambush Killing Of Man Outside Long Island Home

Three years after a man was shot and killed in an ambush attack outside a Long Island home, the alleged gunman was formally charged.

Crime scene
Photo Credit: *Canva/mphotoi*

Michael Mashburn

08/10/2024 9:00 a.m.

Paulin Cerisier, age 29, of Pennsylvania, was indicted on murder and related charges in Suffolk County Court on Wednesday, Aug. 7, in the death of Maresse Decherson-Stevenson.

Prosecutors said Cerisier drove to Amityville shortly before 3 a.m. on July 18, 2021, and entered a backyard party being attended by Decherson-Stevenson, the uncle of his ex-girlfriend.

He then snuck up to the man and shot him in the shoulder without warning, prosecutors said. The 41-year-old Decherson-Stevenson, of Amityville, died a short time later.

Following the shooting, Cerisier fled the scene. He evaded capture for three years until Suffolk County Police homicide detectives arrested him at a hotel in Washington County, Pennsylvania on Monday, July 15.

In court Wednesday, he was formally charged with murder in the second degree and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon.

He was jailed without bail. If convicted, Cerisier faces up to 25 years to life in prison.

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