New shock in Suffolk
Cops: Triple slay on L.I. was ‘targeted attack’
The heartbroken mother of a woman murdered with a Long Island couple in what police are calling a “targeted attack” wants the people responsible for the killings to pay the highest price for leaving her 9-month-old granddaughter without a mom.
“They should never see daylight again,” Patricia Falconi, 42, told the Daily News from her home in Georgia.
Falconi’s daughter, Nyasia Knox, 20, was one of three people found fatally shot Friday inside a home in Fairfield Hills South, a gated townhouse complex in Farmingville.
Knox’s 9-month-old daughter, Lyra, was found in the home, unharmed.
The new mom moved to Long Island shortly after Lyra was born and was staying with friends as she introduced her newborn to her father and siblings who live nearby, Falconi said.
“She was coming back here [this] week,” said Falconi. “She loved her daughter and loved being a mother. She was a great kid, never in trouble. She was good!”
The couple who died with Knox, Richard Castano, 31, and Diamond Schick, 24, were expected to tie the knot in the next few months, according to pal Anayah Nesbitt.
“[Schick] was very smart and cared about everybody and [was] not into negative things,” Nesbitt said. “The fact that something negative intervened with what she had going on — now I can’t grow with her as her sister and best friend.”
Lyra was taken to an area hospital for observation and released to one of Knox’s brothers, Falconi said. She plans to get custody of the infant.
Neighbors told The News that they heard gunshots at 3:30 a.m. on Friday morning. Cops were called to the scene after a relative showed up at the home about noon Friday and found the victims.
Someone kicked in the door to get inside and broke the doorjamb. Two gunmen may have been involved, police said.
Two French bulldogs were also left behind, said Suffolk County police Detective Lt. Kevin Beyrer.
“The call came from a relative of one of the residents inside the home. He had come to check on them and suspected they were dead inside the house,” Beyrer said. “They were shot and there were signs of forced entry.”
“The baby was found in a room. The door was closed,” Beyrer said Friday. “The baby was found unharmed, as well as the dogs.”