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Mostly Cloudy West Hempstead man arrested for murder
Police inspector: Bruny Fenelon ‘viciously’ beat victim
A West Hempstead man was arrested on Aug. 2 and charged with murdering a man outside National Wholesale Liquidators in West Hempstead.
According to the Nassau County Police Department Homicide Squad, at 10:55 p.m. that night, a 39-year-old man in the back parking lot of the Hempstead Turnpike store became involved in an argument with Bruny Fenelon, 30, of West Hempstead.
The argument escalated, detectives said, and Fenelon began to punch and kick the victim, which resulted in his death. The man, whose name was withheld pending family notification, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Fenelon allegedly fled the scene on foot, but was later arrested at his home on Hempstead Turnpike. He was charged with second-degree murder, and arraigned on Aug. 3 at First District Court in Hempstead.
At a press conference that day at NCPD headquarters in Mineola, Police Inspector Kenneth Lack provided more details about the incident, explaining that Fenelon and the victim were acquaintances, and that the victim was from Guyana and was also a West Hempstead resident. Neither were employees of National Wholesale Liquidators, Lack said, but they were drinking alcohol together near the store’s loading docks.
“They only knew each other by street name,” Lack said. “The argument escalated into a physical altercation. The victim fell to the ground, and [Fenelon] began to viciously punch, kick and stomp him in the face, neck and head, causing his death.” He added, “This was a vicious beating.”
Lack said he did not know which man started the fight, or what sparked it. He also said that a passerby called 911 to report the assault, and that there were several witnesses, none of whom tried to stop the attack.
Lack said that the incident was not gang-related, and he was not sure if the victim has any prior arrests. He did note, however, that Fenelon had been arrested for second-degree robbery in 2001, violated probation in March 2004 and had a DWI arrest in 2009.
According to Lack, in the 2001 incident, Fenelon and another individual stole a bicycle from a man. The victim was knocked off the bike onto the ground, and, much like the recent assault, Fenelon and his accomplice attacked and kicked the victim.
As the Herald went to press, police had still not located the victim’s family. It is unclear, they said, if he has any relatives living nearby. The investigation was continuing, Lack said.
