A Long Island mother, Alexis Nieves, is accused in a case involving the brutal murder of a married couple. During the attack, Nieves allegedly kicked the female victim, Donna Conneely, as she choked on her own blood, before hitting her on the head with a meat tenderizer. The victims’ severed heads and limbs were found scattered around local parks. Authorities revealed that a previous robbery is linked to the double murder, with the victims having assisted the suspects in planning the heist before something went wrong.
Nieves and Jeffrey Mackey, another suspect, were arraigned on new charges related to the killings. Nieves was ordered held on a $1 million cash bond, while Mackey was remanded. During the hearing, an assistant district attorney detailed the alleged roles of the suspects in the murders. Nieves was accused of kicking and hitting Conneely with a hammer multiple times before stabbing her to death. Mackey was charged with repeatedly stabbing Malcolm Craig Brown before turning his attention to Conneely, stabbing her in the neck and strangling her before handing her over to Nieves.
The suspects attempted to hide their crime by dismembering the victims’ bodies with meat cleavers, leading to the discovery of their heads and limbs around Suffolk County. The victims, Brown and Conneely, had apparently unknowingly walked into a plot to kill them at the suspects’ home in Amityville on Long Island. Authorities suspect that the murders were motivated by illegal activities between the victims and the defendants. The suspects were initially charged with lesser offenses related to concealing a human corpse.
District Attorney Ray Tierney stated that there was a significant amount of illegal conduct between the victims and the suspects, which may have been a contributing factor to the murders. The suspects attempted to dispose of evidence by clogging the home’s sinks, showers, drains, and toilets. The criminal justice reforms in the state allowed for the suspects to be released with ankle monitors after their earlier arraignment, sparking public outcry. The status of the other two suspects, who were not in court, remains unclear, but they are expected to be arraigned on charges as well.
Nieves was arraigned on charges of second-degree murder while Mackey faced new charges of two murders and a robbery. The prosecution emphasized the strength of the evidence against the suspects, including eyewitness testimony, video evidence, phone records, and cell-site records. Both suspects only responded with “Yes” when asked basic questions during the court session. The investigation is ongoing, with authorities looking into the connections between the robbery and the murders and working to bring all those involved to justice.
