Second Murder Defendant From Port Jeff Station Goes Before Judge

Alex Fernandez, 19, of Port Jefferson Station, is the second of two men accused of shooting Luis Vargas to death to stand before a judge on Tuesday to hear charges being brought against him.

on March 1 for the Feb. 27 murder. Both men are currently being held without bail in the Suffolk County jail.

According to an account given by the assistant district attorney, both men looked for Vargas, 21, of Selden, after they got into an argument on Magnolia Drive in Coram. Nunez went to get a gun and gave a knife to Fernandez. The pair found Vargas on Judith Drive in Selden and Nunez shot Vargas in the chest with a .38 caliber handgun.

to charges of second-degree murder and intimidating witnesses. Along with the shooting, Nunez was accused of threatening two witnesses who were present at the scene of the shooting.

The district attorney's office confirmed that Nunez and Vargas had known each other before the initial argument. They declined to comment on the relationship between Nunez and Fernandez or where Nunez got the gun he used to shoot Vargas.

Vargas was transported to Stony Brook Hospital but he died shortly after arriving.

Fernandez will be arraigned at 9:30 a.m. in Riverhead criminal court, according to the district attorney’s office.