Man pleads not guilty to Hempstead Chuck E. Cheese murder

A Roosevelt man has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder charges in the beating death of a Copiague man behind the  Hempstead village Chuck E. Cheese back in 2022.

62-year-old Dennis Ray, also known as “Midnight,” has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the beating death of 59-year-old Jose Osma of Copiague. Ray was arraigned in the Nassau County Court on Jan. 11.

Meanwhile, the co-defendant in the case, 35-year-old Tyrell Guthrie, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter, according to the docket on the case obtained by the Herald. Per Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly, Guthrie received a sentence of 18 years on Jan. 17.

Prosecutors allege that Guthrie and Ray brutally beat Jose Osma behind the children’s themed restaurant on the night of April 22, 2022, at approximately 11 p.m. Guthrie and Ray were allegedly trying to rob Osma when the alleged beating occurred.

Guthrie was arrested at the scene when the police discovered he had Osma’s blood on his clothes. Ray, meanwhile, was arrested on May 7, 2022.

Osma succumbed to his injuries on April 30, 2023, about a year after the attack occurred.

Ray had been previously indicted on a variety of charges, including robbery, assault, and criminal possession of a weapon. These charges were consolidated with his murder charge into one case.

"Jose Osma was brutally beaten during a robbery in April 2022, and both of his orbital sockets were left concaved after the attack allegedly committed by these defendants," Donnelly said in a news release. "Thanks to a good Samaritan, Mr. Osma was found eight hours later and taken to the hospital. Remarkably, he survived multiple brain surgeries but sadly passed away earlier this year. The Osma family deserves justice, and we will hold these defendants accountable for their alleged actions.”

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misidentified the location of the Chuck E. Cheese restaurant.